Convince Me
by AnInsomniaOfWriting
Summary: Sasuke plotted to destroy Konoha from the inside once he revived his clan, but after romance sparks even, he can't stop the lines between friend and foe from blurring. Rated MA for a good reason. The sequel is now off of its hiatus. Expect regular updates again.
1. Return part one

OK, so this is my first fanfiction, and I am a little new to trying to get all this formatting together so bear with me for a while. this first chapter will probably be edited later on. But yeah reviews would be much appreciated.

**Authors notes: **I'm writing this after posting chapter 12. This chapter has some errors that need to be addressed, but if you can power through them in this chapter they stop. I promise.

**Disclaimer**: I obviously dont own Naruto otherwise I wouldnt be wasting time writing fanfiction id be publishing new manga chapters

**Another Authors Note: Seriously This first chapter is kind of dreadful and I seriously want to rewrite the whole thing, but if you can bear through it, this story apparently gets pretty dang fantastic according to my many many fans. There's a crap ton of grammar issues that I really should fix, so if you see them, point them out and I'll fix them. So please don't let this first chapter deter you from a great story. I had literally never written anything before this first chapter, so again, it's bad. So please point out stuff regardless of the chapter. By PM preferably. Thanks, InsomniaOfWritiing.**

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><p>Convince Me<p>

_"Sakura," His breath hit her neck, it was slightly warmer than the summer night air. "Thank you."_

I woke up, but not on the bench like the time that he left, but still with the same sense of panic. Soon enough my surroundings took back over, and so did my routine. The monotony was almost mind numbing. The only thing that broke the haze of days, were the occasional missions with what remained of team seven. Kakashi, still lead the missions, but the team was just slightly different. Since Root was disbanded after the death of Danzo and the older elders, Sai was now a legitimate member.

It had been a few years since he had joined their team. His social skills were, for a lack of a better word "improved." Once he learned that nicknames (well his nicknames) weren't really appropriate, he became much more tolerable. He did learn the hard way though, he insulted my chest and I punched him so hard he spent nearly two weeks in the hospital mending a set of broken ribs.

Who could forget the noisy ex-teammate Naruto? Who spent the first few weeks of his job realizing that being the Hokage wasn't as much fun as he thought it was going to be. Paper work and sitting in an office for most of the day definitely didn't suit his style or personality at all. Still, it was literally his dream job. His rise to the title of Hokage wasn't an easy battle. Ironically enough he owed his title to Sasuke. Sasuke managed to kill off everyone involved in the incident involving his brother. Many of those people were strongly opposed to Naruto ever being Hokage.

Danzo especially, but his death brought on the last time I even saw Sasuke. That was almost two years ago. He was alive though, or at least a month ago he was. That was when he managed to assassinate the last two feudal lords involved with Itachi. With the older generation out of the way Naruto easily gained approval. After all he did save thousands upon thousands just a few short years ago. Not to mention he was just amazingly strong, no one could protect the village or dare go toe to toe with him. Still he had one more enemy to defeat.

XXXXXX

The recurring dream of Sasuke leaving me there on that bench always seemed to bring me to tears. I went through my usual routine of hiding them in the shower. Ino couldn't hear me over the sounds of the water flowing that way. Sometimes it would last until the hot water turned as cold as her tears, but it was funny how I could always tell the difference between the two.

I wiped the steam clear off the mirror even though it would return momentarily. It wasn't really necessary to get so cleaned up before a mission. Still I had time though; the day Kakashi was on time would be the day the Ino-pig would fly. Still be the time I was finished with my hair and getting dressed the recently humid room had nearly calmed down to its normal state. I walked quietly as I could to my room to grab my bag that I had prepared the night before, and then made my way to the front door. I had to chuckle a little at Ino's snoring before heading out the door to the village gates.

Sai was already there, no surprise. His head buried in the same book he was reading on the last mission. For someone who seemed to read a lot he didn't seem to read very fast or he read intentionally slow. I managed to get there nearly twenty minutes late, but there was still no sign of Kakashi. I had seriously thought about sneaking into his home a few times over the many years I had known him, and adjusting all his clocks.

"He would catch me" I mumbled just in time for his classic "Yo!"

"Sorry I'm late. There was this dog…"

"Lies!" Sai and I both cut him off. I only think Sai did it because Naruto and I did it every time he showed up. He scratched the back of his head like usual. Kakashi hadn't really changed in any way that stood out to Sakura. She still had never seen his face, and never learned anything of particular importance about him in general. She rarely ever saw him outside of a mission and it was usually at the grocery store.

"Well then shall we get going" he smiled through his mask. Ever since Sai's addition to the team I wondered if the mask was just meant to hide his emotions, and his smiles were forced like Sai's. There was one time I did find him just staring at the Memorial Stone. The one that paid homage to the hero's of the village that died protecting it. It was raining then, but I could see his tears. I was sure he knew I was there, maybe then he just needed someone to talk to.

"Hello? Sakura?" I snapped back to reality at the sound of Kakashi's voice. "We're all leaving for this mission are you?"

"Oh sorry" I gave a quick apology and caught up with the other two. Our mission was another cut and dry escort mission. A "S rank" escort mission. These escort missions were becoming more common now that the feudal lords all needed to have escorts to and from the village. Still the latest Intel hinted at the fact that Sasuke in theory should be finished but it was new information.

The two lords already were waiting at the gate. Their escort of a small group of ANBU departed after we relieved them. The lords' residence was only a few miles north of the village. The two never spoke and simply climbed into their cab. It was a dull day with the three of us on watch

It was hot out. Typical weather for this time of year. A bead of sweat moved into my eye. No sooner though had I went to wipe it off did I sense something off. An odd sense of something cold, even in this heat.

"Kakashi do you sense anything out there?"

"No, I'm fairly certain it's all clear out here, we should be at the mansion here shortly. Don't get jittery everything should be fine…" Those almost became his famous last words when a blur of darkness flew by me, straight for Kakashi. _Sasuke!_ His speed never ceased to amazed me. Though Kakashi didn't even seem to flinch from the blinding attack and easily dodged the swing of Sasuke's katana.

"I'll be taking what doesn't belong to you" Sasuke spat coldly. He was clearly here for Kakashi's left eye.

"You seem to forget that it was a gift, Sasuke." He replied calmly. "Taking it from me won't be so easy, even for you."

"If they interfere I won't hold back on them." He hinted about Sai and me. Once again he didn't even count me in as a threat, or Sai apparently. There was truth to that; in eye techniques alone he could defeat the both of us. Even Sai, emotionless Sai. Told a tale of the things that Sasuke was capable of with just a look.

"I won't let you hurt them." Kakashi's tone became more serious. "Sai! Send for Naruto! Sakura…stay out of this." I was being ignored. Counted out by my teacher and former friend.

_"Am I that weak?"_

Sasuke clearly was not going to waste time for reinforcements to show up. The air seemed to change around him. Again he was going to use the Susano'o. The last time they encountered him was shortly after he'd killed Danzo. Even then, in his weakened state he forced Kakashi to use his mangekyou sharingan.

"Sakura, get out of here!" Kakashi yelled

_"He doesn't even acknowledge me"_

"Why are you just standing there? Run Aw…" His voice was cut off as one of Sasuke's blows managed to graze him. A non-fatal blow from what she could tell, but the next blow would not miss. Sasuke's Susano'o drew in its next attack

"Sasuke no!" I suddenly reacted off instinct and raced towards Sasuke. Time seemed to slow as I neared him, instinct said to avoid the situation, but my emotions said I had to try. I doubted if my attack would do anything, but I couldn't just let Kakashi die.

"I told you not to interfere." His words were cold. My fist made contact with his technique first. The pain of several of my knuckles breaking spiraled up my arm. His counter was unforgiving and the blow that hit me made the broken knuckles look fun. As I tried to get back up I felt myself slipping back into the darkness.

XXXXXX

Waking up after being beaten down was never a fun experience. Luckily I somehow managed not to have this happen very often thanks to a brutal teacher.

_"A medical ninja must never be hit by the enemy."_ That was what Tsunade would always say during her early training. I sure did suck at it back then and woke up sore a lot, but this was even more painful.

Things continued to get worse for my scenario. I'd obviously been captured, which meant Kakashi was most likely dead. I could feel the tears starting to swell up in my as the emotions started overcoming the physical pain I was in. I forced them down, I had to focus. Sasuke was obviously behind this, so he had to be around here somewhere.

"A few years ago I once woke up in a similar way you are right now." Sasuke's voice echoed through the room. Even in the darkness I could tell he was close. "Tied up" The sound of a match being struck overtook his voice. My eyes strained against the new light. "And forced to listen."

"Listen?" my voice was dry and hoarse.

"Don't interrupt!" he spat. "Kakashi and Sai ditched you." Not really a surprise from Sai, but Kakashi? Sai had a history of not being a team player. Kakashi on the other hand did take a few things in life seriously, and at the top of that list were his comrades.

"He wouldn't do that you of all people should know"

"He took off the first chance he got, leaving a shadow clone behind when I knocked you out" His words were obviously meant to cut to the heart. Though it was apparent that he wasn't lying. Otherwise I wouldn't be here with him. "Even I couldn't face off with the type of reinforcements that he would bring"

"So why take me, if you're so bent on revenge why not just kill me?"

"Collateral." He said bluntly "At least that way you may prove useful." Those words stunned me for a moment; he probably could read it all over my face. My inferiority complex with the rest of the team was apparent to him.

"What do you want to make a deal for?" I questioned him. "Not like you could get one even for my life."

"You're wrong, the idiot would do anything for you, even go against the wishes of the entire country if he had to. He may have become the Hokage, but I'm willing to bet that he would give that up for your life."

He was right about Naruto. He would do that for me regardless of the repercussions.

"You still never said what exactly you would trade me for" A deadly question, that I might not like the answer to.

"I have two goals left." His eyes drifted away from mine. "Either kill Kakashi, or at a minimum his sharingan eye. Then I plan to revive my clan." I was right I wasn't going to like the answer. He was going to trade my life for Kakashi's.

"How exactly do you plan to resurrect your clan?"

"Honestly Sakura, as a medical ninja, don't you think that that question is a bit self-explanatory?" He sat up and headed for me pulling out a kunai. "Try anything and I won't hesitate to kill you." He droned as if he had rehearsed it. He cut the ropes off, and pulled them off me. "Fix yourself up, we have business tomorrow."

XXXXXX

I could hear the faint sounds of her chakra flowing from her medical jutsu as I closed the door behind me. No sense locking it, she could bring the whole place down if she wanted. Not that she could escape in her current condition. Even with her abilities. Still she was a necessary component for his plans. A Hyuuga girl would be ideal. The sharingan is descendent of the byakugan. Sakura wouldn't be worth that kind of weight. The Hyuuga also had a lot of pull in politics even against the Hokage.

Naruto would have next to no choice; his bonds would get me what I wanted. Sakura would just have to do; her genetics were a blank slate. Even if her offspring had half her chakra control talent they would surpass my own. Even with all the training I've had I still waste chakra, I doubt if she's wasted any her entire life. Still she's a gamble and hot headed. She better be worth the risk.

XXXXXX

I finally collapsed again. This time from exhaustion. Healing took a lot out of everyone who did it. It took large amounts of chakra to forcibly sow organs and tissue back together. Bones were the worst and I had several broken ones. The knuckles on three fingers and four ribs. Getting to all of that in one sitting took a lot of you.

Still it was easy to fall asleep beyond the fact that she was a prisoner in an unknown location. Though the morning came amazingly fast with the sound of the door being opened. I forced my eyes open in time to have a small bag thrown my way. Reflexes kicked in and I managed to catch it before it landed on my face.

"Change." He demanded shutting the door behind him again. In the bag was a basic set of clothes that were all just slightly large on me. I stuffed my usual attire into the small bag and headed out of the door. Sasuke was leaning against the opposite wall as I closed the door.

"Lets go, I don't like to be late." He led me out of the building. The air was surprisingly cool for summer. This soon became no surprise when I found out where we were. The small building we were in was set high up on one of the largest trees I had ever seen.

"Get on." His voice brought me back from me scenic viewing, as he motioned to a disturbingly large hawk. "Stop staring already, he doesn't like to wait either." I climbed uneasily onto the large bird and settled in just in time for it to burst into flight. I had never flown before, and nervously grasped at some of the oversized feathers. Sasuke just stared off into space ignoring the fact that we were hundreds of feet above the ground.

The hawk explained how Sasuke managed to take off with me and not be tracked. Even Naruto's sage mode had its range, and that was enormous. "_This definitely beats running through the trees, assuming you don't mind the height."_ I gulped as I looked down everything was a blur of green, aside from the occasional stream or river. Still I watched until finally, what seemed like hours some signs of civilization appeared. The closer we got I could tell what the place was. Konoha, I could just make out the outline of the Hokage memorial cliff.

XXXXXX

That ended up being where we landed, right on top of the fourth Hokage. Come to think of it Sasuke probably didn't know that this was Naruto's father. I surprised when I learned it too, but in the last few years the resemblance was really beginning to show. As we touched down the small thud of metal hitting the earth sounded near us. We both looked to see the oddest shape kunai just lying on the ground.

I just began to look at the seal on the weapon when Naruto suddenly appeared. It made me jump in surprise. Sasuke just stood there silently, unmoved.

"Sasuke" Naruto started, taking off the Hokage's hat. His tone sounded more serious than his usual self. He had changed so much since the last time the three of them were in the same place. No longer wearing that ridiculous orange attire. Not on the outside at least.

"You know what I'm here for, or should I kill her now?" In an instant he was behind me blade drawn and at my throat.

"No!" Naruto took a step forward. "I talked to Kakashi about your terms."

"And?" His voice rang in my ears

"He agrees to give it up." Naruto's voice wavered slightly

"What about the other part of the deal?"

"That part isn't so simple Sasuke." The katana moved ever so slightly making a small cut on my throat making a small cut. I winced a little at the new pain, but I could handle it. "I got it done though." The blade moved back away a little. "The ANBU will be on permanent watch of course." What were they talking about? What kind of deal did Sasuke manage to make exactly?

"So we can go now?" Sasuke inquired.

"Why am I going with him?" I asked Naruto cutting the two off.

"In exchange for not attacking the rest of the village, who had nothing to do with his brother. He gets to reclaim his clans' property, including Kakashi-sensei's sharingan. Along with someone to revive his clan with. Namely you" he rubbed the back of his head like nothing he said was a big deal. How was I not brought into this conversation?

"Naruto you have no right to do this!" I screamed at him. I had yelled at Naruto plenty in my life but this was different than him being an imbecile.

"I'm sorry Sakura, but I have to do what is best for the village now. This is the only way I could save you and Kakashi and everyone else that you know too." A tear fell down one of his cheeks.

"Let's go" Sasuke pulled me back onto the hawk. My anger left me in a stupor as he did so. I wasn't even mad at Sasuke. I've never wanted to seriously kill Naruto before. "I want that eye within the hour." We were in the air, and headed for the Uchiha complex.

With Naruto out of sight I broke the rest of the way down mentally. Tears flew of my cheeks as we rode through the air; so many thoughts flew through me faster than I could process them. It only took a few minutes to arrive at our destination. I composed myself and stepped down off the hawk which flew off on its own after we both got off.

I stared at what was apparently to become my new home, even Sasuke was staring uneasily. I still couldn't help but feel that this was way worse for him than me. I gave my eyes one last rub and turned towards the memorial where we just were.

"I hope you know what you're doing Naruto."


	2. Return part two

OK so heres the second chapter, i sat and hammered it out for six hours today.

thanks to lil-kisser for my first review more people should, feedback is good you know

**DISCLAIMER: Once again i dont own naruto.**

I followed Sasuke up to the door of the large house we had just arrived at. The large bird gave one last screech before disappearing from view over the tall wall of the complex. The old wooden doors creaked after being unopened for such a long time. The house was eerily silent aside from our footsteps. I trailed just a few feet behind him. He turned down a hallway and for the first time I got a sense of uneasiness as he opened a pair of double wooden doors. He stared in silence for several minutes. He finally turned around shutting the doors behind him.

"We'll need to get this placed cleaned up." He sighed noting the state of the house. He moved to a window and opened it. A cool breeze drifted through stirring up the years of dust that had been trapped inside. "Are you just going to stand there and gawk or help clean up this place? I'm sure a pretty girl like you wouldn't want to stay in a place this dirty,"

Pretty girl; wasn't meant as a compliment. He still saw me as some annoying girl, nothing more than a tool to get his means. I stomped over to the nearest window and forced it open. The air inside when finally there was a knock on the door. It echoed through the silent house. Sasuke went to answer it moving with intent towards the door. From around the corner I could hear another man talking, Sasuke didn't open it enough for me to see who was on the other side. Sasuke took something from the man, a small cylinder from the look of it.

I already knew what it was, Kakashi's sharingan. How could Kakashi willingly give it up so easily? Was he just doing his duty to the village, just like I was being subjected to? Was I the only one who seemed to think that none of this was in the best interest of Konoha?

Sasuke had an evil smile on his face when he closed the door behind him. He held the vial containing the eye up to his face staring it down.

"Is this real?" he tossed it to me, my stomach lurched as I caught it. I had dealt with every sort of body part I could think of at the hospital. This was different, it was just messed up. "Well?" his voice had a hint of anger to it. I forced my feelings down and examined it, as far as I could tell it was the real thing.

"Yes, I believe it is" I finally managed to utter. The sickness in my stomach continued to push its way up the more I held it. "Here" I finally handed it back to him. He pulled a scroll out from his pack and opened it. After making a few inscriptions he placed the container on the paper and sealed it.

"Why did you do that?"

"For no reason that you need to know about." He said bluntly. His poor treatment of me was starting to get on my nerves.

"If you expect me to start going along with your big master plan, or whatever you're up to here. Then you better start filling me in" I was angry. At Naruto primarily for sticking me into this mess without even considering my feelings. Sasuke was a close second, he had always been a little stoic, but the rudeness was going to stop.

"It may prove useful one day." He finally sighed after a few moments. I didn't have much on Sasuke, but he needed me to revive his clan. A process that I really wasn't looking forward to, but I could handle that when it came around.

XXXXXX

We started to clean the place up several years of neglect did things to places. This place reminded me of the story Naruto told about his place after he got done training with Jiraiya. The open windows helped a lot with the airborne dust, but a thick layer still covered everything else.

"So what deal exactly did you make with Naruto" It was something that had been bugging me since we started cleaning. Overall I had calmed down about the day's events.

"I needed a place to revive my clan, and a person to do it with. You gave me the means to do both" He didn't even both looking me in the eyes when talking to me, a trait that I found to be very rude.

"I thought you hated Konoha"

"I still do, but to achieve my means I have no other choice but to overlook it" He sighed.

"Then why come here?"

"I am, or was mind you, a wanted fugitive. Could you imagine trying to raise offspring under those conditions?" His use of the word offspring disturbed me. Would he even care for his children, or would they be just tools for his revenge?

"Why pick me?" The other big thing I was curious about. "Why do you want me to help you revive your clan?"

"Let's go for a walk." He didn't answer, just a typical diversion for a conversation he didn't want to have. How out of touch was he with himself? We both left the house; the fresh air was a relief from the stuffiness of the house. I followed him as he walked along the main roads. A pair of ANBU guards followed a short distance behind.

I finally realized where he was taking me. The last place I saw him where he wasn't my enemy. The stone bench was now slightly worn, but the setting was the same as it was almost five years ago.

"It's this one right?" He finally spoke.

"Yes"

"You said you would do anything for me back then. Even leave with me." Was this him trying to be sweet?

"You knocked me out and left me on a bench." I was giving him a hard time. Attempts to be nice didn't avert a long overdue apology. He paused for a long time after that.

"…You said you loved me back then too, but you were just infatuated like the rest of the girls."

"You're wrong! I'll admit that back then I didn't realize your feelings until it was too late. Everything was happening so fast back then. The time you and Naruto fought on the rooftop. I realized it then. You and Naruto had surpassed me in every way. I-I just didn't want you to go." Tears were rolling down my cheeks again. I had lost count of the times id been forced to cry today. "Naruto knew what you were feeling at the time. He's probably the only person who truly understands you." Sasuke just watched me cry out my feelings. "He promised me after you left…He promised me he would bring you back, and he just kept that promise today." Everything became clear in that instant. Naruto didn't do this for the villages, Sasuke's, or anyone else's sake. He did it for me.

I wasn't mad at Naruto anymore, he was a true friend. I wasn't thinking I was just happy and found my arm around Sasuke. I was still crying and I could tell that the whole situation was making him incredibly uneasy.

"Oh, sorry." I apologized. Come with me I'm starving and I know just the place to go. I grabbed his hand and tugged him along.

XXXXXX

_ "Why is she holding my hand?"_ Sakura almost still the same annoying girl from all that time ago. She forcibly tugged me along if I didn't keep up. She never let go until we finally arrived at Ichiraku. "_Big surprise."_ Naruto was there, not someone I particularly wanted to see, ever for that matter.

"Sakura!" He jumped up and hugged her. "You brought Sasuke too. How did you manage that?" he whispered to her. Though, his whispers were about as loud as a normal person's voice sometimes. He wasn't being the same mature Naruto he had been dealing with over the last twenty-four hours.

"Sit down I'll treat you guys" Naruto suddenly gave me a pat on the back, like we were still old friends. Part of me said hurt him for the action.

"What can you sir?" The owner asked, still the same guy from when he was a kid.

"Got anything with tomatoes?"

XXXXXX

It was a long walk from the ramen stand back to what was becoming my new home. I thanked Naruto for the ramen. The next chance I got to properly thank him I would. Still I wasn't expecting the day to go like it had, I'd been held hostage, used as a bargaining chip, cleaned a house with Sasuke, cried my heart out multiple times, seen the error of my ways and got treated to ramen. Nothing however was matching the current situation.

"Sleep somewhere else!" I demanded after climbing into bed.

"It's my house and my bed." He spat back. He had a point, but I still had no intention of sleeping in the same bed as him.

"Fine" I said grabbing one of the excess pillows and a blanket and started making for the door.

"You are so annoying." Annoying? He thinks I'm annoying?

"Fine I'll stay." If he thought I was currently being annoying I'll show him what annoying really is. "Just stay on your side, and if you try anything I'll beat the crap out of you." He wouldn't try anything I already knew that. In all likely hoods Sasuke would be just as uncomfortable with me in the bed as I with him. He gave me a dirty scowl, and took his shirt off before climbing into the bed. He clicked off the light. It was quieter here than at her apartment. The Uchiha complex was off limits to people, and the punishment for trespassing was typically severe. Only the sound of crickets and Sasuke's breathing filled the room. My mind began to wonder about what Sasuke was saying about love earlier before she cut him off, did he have feelings for her? Did he even have feelings at all?

It wasn't hard to fall asleep that night. It had been a long day my dreams took me back again to that day. This time was different, they weren't kids anymore, but the actions and words were the same. He left me there again, out cold.

I always wake up from that dream just when he knocks me out. I needed a shower it had been almost two days since I had had one. I walked in a turned the water on hot. I always loved a hot shower, they helped me relax. I stripped out of my dirty clothes and tossed them lazily to the other end of the bathroom. The water turned slightly brown as it ran over the bottom of the tub. Soon enough it ran clear again after washing myself, so I plugged the drain and let the water begin to fill up.

I lay back against the wall; a chill ran up my spine as the cold porcelain met my warm back. The warm water soaked my legs and ankles as the tub filled out and I let my mind go blank. I found it very easy to lose myself in the shower. Finally the water started turning cold signaled the end of my time.

A hard knock at the door startled me.

"Are you almost done? I've had to pee for a long time now." He shouted over the running water. He could have said something a long time ago.

"You could have said something you know." I said back after turning the water off and grabbed a towel.

"You didn't have to take forev…" I opened the door and his mouth stopped. He was staring at me.

"Sasuke!" I snapped my fingers in front of him. He jumped back to life again.

"Don't take so long." He went right back to being a jerk. _"He was just checking me out."_ For some reason I was smiling as I made my way back to the bedroom where I was greeted with a new horror for the day. I had no clothes. Brilliant, I didn't even think of my stuff all I had right now were the clothes on my back, the ones that were currently in the bathroom with Sasuke.

"It's going to be another great day." I sighed.

It didn't take but a few moments for Sasuke to come back to the room.

"You're not getting dressed?" That was a fair question for once. It would have been fairer if he wasn't still eyeing me over like he'd never seen a half-naked girl before.

"I don't have anything to change into." A scowl came across his face before he moved to the dresser. "You can borrow these while you go get your stuff." He tossed me a large shirt and a regular pair of shorts. I actually had a hard time picturing him ever even wearing shorts.

"Thank you." I headed back for the bathroom with clothes in hand. They wouldn't look good, but they would do for the relatively short trip back to my place. By the time I had changed and headed out Sasuke was halfway out the door.

"I have somewhere to go." He shut the door behind him. I rushed to catch up.

"Wait? Where are you go…ing?" he was already gone. I sighed. More importantly why did I even care? I brushed the thought off and headed out. The village on this part of town wasn't destroyed in Pein's attack a few years ago. My apartment was near the epicenter of the attack unfortunately and so I stayed with Kakashi for a while until it was replaced. That was an "interesting" year to say the least.

I finally made it to my apartment and headed inside; luckily I remembered to have a spare key hidden nearby. Ino wasn't at home apparently, she would have been happy to see me. She was probably in bed with Choji at the moment sleeping in. I filled a large back with as many clothes as I could; it was going to take several trips to get all my stuff though. I may even be able to convince Sasuke to help.

After managing to get my first load of things back to my apparent new place I needed something to do for the rest of the day. I knew just who to go see too. After changing out of Sasuke's clothes of course.

XXXXXX

"Ah Sakura" Kakashi formed a weak smile from under his mask. The left side of his torso had hundreds of stitches holding him together. I gulped and headed the rest of the way inside.

"I'm sorry" I was crying again damnit. "It's my fault that this happened to you."

"Don't cry, it's not your fault, in all actuality I'd be dead right now if it wasn't for you." He sighed. "I heard about your situation. Do you still love him?" Kakashi could be very blunt at times, but he knew me very well.

"I don't know right now." I finally admitted after thinking it over for a minute. "He's so different, but every once in a while he goes back to the way he was."

"Be careful with him Sakura, he may start to open up some, but he can hurt more than just your body." He coughed. A small stain began to steep through the thin mask.

"Here let me take a look." I pulled chakra to my hand and focused it on Kakashi. He was still slightly bleeding internally. I could fix that. It was the least that I could do at the moment.

It took nearly ten minutes to fix him up properly. Afterwards I said my goodbyes and handed Kakashi something that I picked up along the way to the hospital. A series of books for him. The kind of smut thing that he was always reading. It was embarrassing to buy, but at the very least it might cheer him up a bit. He thanked me and started reading. I headed out back to Sasuke's place.

I decided to stop by the store and spent the last bit of money I had on some groceries. I clearly had to make the best of this in some way I think people, Naruto especially were all counting on me. I had seen a little light today in Sasuke. He could change. I hoped.

He was already settled in by the time I got back sharpening his weapons. He merely glanced at me once as I began putting things away. He stayed out there long after I finished and crawled into bed. I had fallen asleep but the motion of him getting in briefly woke me up.

"Goodnight." I whispered as I fell back asleep. I may have been dreaming, but it sounded like he said it back.


	3. Just a glimpse

OK So here's the third chapter of my installment. R&R

Another side note from me. These stories aren't formatting like I write them, so I'm going to go and manually fix them after I finish up with this chapter.

**Disclaimer: I do ****NOT**** own Naruto.**

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><p>I woke up suddenly from something pulling off me. I let out a small groan as Sasuke started making a bunch of noise in the room. The familiar sounds of kunai and shuriken being put away snapped me awake. It was still dark outside; I glanced at the small clock and strained my eyes as they adjusted, even to the small light.<p>

"Where are you going so early?" I rubbed my eyes trying to get a better picture.

"Training." He replied on his way out the door. I was curious as to what kind of training he did. It had to be something on a whole different level than the kinds of things I did. I had seen the kind of training Naruto did, but now it seemed like he hit a wall, which is fine when you're the strongest ninja in Konoha.

I sighed at the clock; I had to be up soon enough, might as well get an early start for the day. I quickly hopped into the shower that was when I noticed something a bit off. If I was sleeping on my right side, then what was this ridiculous red mark running along my waist and stomach?

"Oh." That bastard put his arm around me. That explains what woke me up this morning. He must have done it in his sleep; otherwise he wouldn't have jerked away like that. It's a start I suppose. I didn't like the fact that he didn't like that he had done it, but we are going to have to get along at some point. There was a knock on the door.

XXXXXX

_"Stupid" _I chucked a shuriken into the nearest tree hitting the target dead center. What if she found out that I was holding her in her sleep? She would probably take it the wrong way. I threw another that the target landing the shuriken perfectly parallel to the last one.

_"It was comfortable though. No! It was stupid"._ My inner thoughts were in conflict. When I made the decision to revive my clan it didn't include romance. Would she even go along with me without it? I hurled several kunai at multiple targets hitting them all. This whole situation was just wrong.

Developing a relationship with Sakura was going to be difficult; we had very conflicting personalities in many different areas. I didn't even know where to start I hadn't even kissed a girl before let alone sleep with one. _"She loves you. No, she did love you then you tried killing her a few times" _If I was lucky she would make the first move.

"Hey Sasuke!" A voice I didn't want to hear shouted from across the field. What could he want this early in the morning? Shouldn't he be signing something? "How is everything going, adjusting well?

"I guess." A vague and for a vague question.

"Need a sparring partner?" A spar? Was he serious? The last time we sparred on top of the hospital roof we almost killed each other and Sakura. With Kakashi's help we also managed to destroy two water tanks. I wouldn't deny his request though, I never backed down from a challenge.

"So? Getting a little cozy last night huh?" He winked at me. The question caught me off guard for just a moment, but enough for Naruto to know that it was true. He knew it was true already, we were being watched all the time. I would have to shut that window. He was laughing at me; Naruto always had to make a joke out of everything. I found it to be very annoying.

I made the first strike easily making contact with his body; an unsurprising poof of smoke greeted my fist. The day Naruto didn't perform a shadow clone in a fight would be the day I died.

"Nice speed. Another Naruto came out from behind a nearby tree. This one was different something about his eyes was…odd. I activated my sharingan to assess his chakra. It was something I had seen once before my eyes weren't so good then.

"What kind of technique is that?" I questioned. Naruto merely smiled.

"A good ninja keeps secrets." I moved for another hit he didn't bother dodging, my hand made contact faster than I could realize that. It was like punching concrete, my knuckles felt like they almost were going to break.

"Come on I'll treat you to some ramen." I didn't like being toyed with, in a real fight I had many techniques to deal with that kind of defense.

"No, let's finish this" I didn't want ramen for breakfast anyways, did he even eat anything besides ramen?

"If you say so" his punching speed reminded me of that Lee kid, even so with my sharingan easily started to dodge the blow. Something then collided with my face something I didn't even see. I picked myself up off the ground my jaw screamed in pain. What was the extra range on his punch about?

I didn't have any non-lethal jutsu to counter him in his current state. I couldn't let things get out of hand I had already gained too much ground in the last few days.

"Fine I'll eat your ramen"

XXXXXX

I decided to go home and get the rest of my things, I still didn't like the fact that I was forced to move practically to the other side of town with someone who was a virtual stranger. Ino greeted me with a hug on my arrival.

"Oh my god there you are I haven't seen you for days! Where the hell have you been? She was shouting, a little too loud for this early in the morning.

"Seriously, you haven't heard what happened yet?" I was surprised; did no one know that Sasuke was back yet? Some of the jonin had to know obviously.

"No? What happened? Tell me!" she was just as impatient as when we were kids.

"I don't think you would believe me even if I told you." I composed myself. "I'm living with Sasuke now."

"Sasuke who?" she looked dumbstruck

"Honestly pig how many Sasuke's do we know?" She looked at me even more dumbfounded; clearly this was too much information for her small brain to handle.

"How is that even possible?" A very good question one that I had a feeling I didn't have the entire answer to. Nonetheless I explained everything that was happening to her. She listened for the most part interrupting me every once in a while for a stupid question.

"So…have you two, you know?" She had a disturbing grin on her face. I knew this grin well.

"What?" I hoped she wasn't referring to what I think she was.

"I know you're not that dense" She was.

"Oh god no. He's such and asshole you have no idea." Actually I hadn't even given it all that much thought. It was obvious at some point we would. I was nothing short of obligated to do it. I still hadn't even lost my virginity yet. I didn't have time for boys or other things like that; it baffled me the Ino managed to find the time.

"I would, you have no idea, no idea"

"You really are a pig Ino." She was off daydreaming, a nasty habit of hers. It was scary just too even think about what was going through her mind. "I'm going to finish packing." It was a sad thing finally having everything I owned packed away. I had barely lived here for a year, but it was home.

Ino hugged me goodbye as I left, I would miss her. When I finally made it home it was past well into the afternoon. Sasuke still wasn't home. Where could he be? I began unpacking it was a long dull process. Almost as dull as packing up in the first place. Everything I pulled out held a memory especially this photograph. Team seven the only picture with all four of us. I put it next to the bed on the small dresser. That's where I always put it no matter where I lived. I'd lost track of the amount of sleep I had lost pondering over Sasuke and now he slept in the same bed as me.

XXXXXX

I lost track of the time. The sound of Sasuke coming in brought me back. He moved silently towards the bathroom briefly giving me eye contact. I yawned, was it that late already? I glanced at the clock it was past ten. On the brightside of things my unpacking was nearly complete. I took advantage of Sasuke being in the shower and changed into the pajamas I now had.

I changed the bedding out with my own, since the older ones were now dirty. As I climbed into the bed the day caught up with me. Sasuke walked in a short while later a large bruise covered most of his left jaw.

"What happened to you?" He didn't answer. "Here let me look." He reluctantly came over after a few seconds of internal debate. I looked at his jaw as he sat down next to me. I moved a steady hand over his jaw line. He winced in pain

"Who did this? I asked already starting to pull chakra to my hands; he probably had a small break.

"Naruto. No one else could have done it that's for sure." He managed to spit out even in the pain he was attempting to hide. One of these days that over confidence that no one could hurt him would be his downfall. Most likely at my own doing, Naruto wasn't the only one who could hit hard.

"Hold still." I began to sense around the bruise. It wasn't broken which was lucky for him, it was however just slightly out of place. An easy fix. "There that should be better." The bruise was largely faded but not entirely gone.

"Thank you" a rare moment of sincerity. He grabbed his jaw feeling it over "I don't know how he hit me I know I dodged his fist."

"Sage mode from the sound of it, it has something to do with nature energy, I really don't know all that much about it." Naruto didn't ever say too much about his sage mode. Many of the villagers also referred to him as a sage. The notion itself was funny.

"Very helpful." he said standing up and making his way towards his side of the bed. He briefly took note of the changed linens; they were probably a little too bright for his taste. He climbed in nonetheless. I was sure on his now hidden face there was a slight scowl. I turned the lights out. My mind began to wander back to the event of this morning and what Ino had said.

"Sasuke?" I began to muster my confidence.

"Hn?" He simply grunted back.

"Hold me again." His breathing stopped. I wasn't even entirely sure why I wanted him to. I doubted he even would do it. Several uncomfortable seconds went by the room was dead silent. Finally a ruffle of sheets broke the silence. He edged closer to me still keeping his distance. A hand finally made contact with me, I was expecting it, but it still made me jump slightly.

I never opened my eyes. His hand came to a resting place on my waist. He was still several inches away but I could lightly feel his body heat on my back. It was a start; I didn't know if he was just going along with what I asked. He was still an emotional wall. Why did he go along with it? Thoughts raced through my head, maybe I was being delusional.

XXXXXX

What the hell was I doing holding her like this. How did she manage to fall asleep so easily? This was mind racking for several reasons. The first time was a total accident, I moved a little in my sleep big deal. This was my chance though to improve things with her. We had definitely gotten off the worst start possibly in human history.

As my mind continued racing she shifted, turning into me. Her face was now buried in my chest.

_"See this is just what you wanted she's making all the moves. She's not making any moves she's just asleep"_ my internal conflict ran on. Part of me somewhere wanted all of this, but a slightly louder voice always seemed to come out on top. I was frozen by my own emotions staring down at her sleeping.

_"She's pretty when she's asleep."_ For once there was no second opinion, she was good looking I supposed. I didn't really spend a lot of time looking at girls that way.

She shifted again, somehow managing to get even closer. My hand however managed to find a gap between her shorts and her shirt. Her skin was soft and perfectly smooth to the touch. I moved my hand ever so slightly. It was an indescribable effect that she was having on me. The way she felt, the soft rush of air that hit my neck every time she exhaled. Even her smell was having an almost intoxicating effect.

_"Kiss her."_ For the first time that I even could remember I listened to that voice.

XXXXXX

Something was different. I didn't even remember falling asleep. That was all insignificant to the current issue._ "HE IS KISSING ME!"_ I had a brief internal scream out of shear shock. It was not the thing that I was expecting to wake up to. He being all the way over on his side of the bed was what I expected.

His lips were quivering against mine. He was just as unsure as I was, deep down this is what I wanted wasn't it?

I kissed back. He instantly started to pull away in a panic, I grabbed him. An easy task since I was holding him already

"Don't" I whispered softly. "Don't run away from this. You always run." I kissed him. A real kiss this time. At first he resisted a little, but eventually gave in. He pulled me closer, neither one of us was experienced at what was going on but we continued anyways. He wound up on top of me, things were beginning to get intense, and my body wanted more. So did his apparently.

This was actually happening. I gained control of my senses for a moment. We were really going to do this.

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><p>I must have re-wrote this one several times. Its a little shorter than the previous chapters. and if the beginning of the next chapter isnt apparent that "rated M for eventual content" yeah theres gonna be some of that.<p> 


	4. The brink of war

We'll here we are on chapter 4.

Let me also clear the air and say I'm not writing a lemon because I want to. It actually will have relevance to the story other than them just hooking up.

And to C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only…progress? Perhaps. I don't like to spoil.

And seriously people...review, i need some more input.

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't Naruto. I don't even own the humorous disclaimer I was going to put here.

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><p><em>"Why can't I stop myself?" <em>My hands were trembling as I attempted to move them under her shirt. I met no resistance. Her body seemed to go on forever; finally my finger tips reached her bra. She moved, I thought she was going to stop me. She reached behind her and unhooked her bra. It fell loosely and hung on her shoulders held in place by her remaining shirt. The intention was clear as I slipped my hand underneath. Her breasts weren't large, but they seemed to just fill my hand perfectly.

I felt a hand running up my chest, going until the shirt I was wearing intruded on her path. She began tugging it off. The soft sound of it hitting the floor was the only thing that had broken the silence in what had seemed like an eternity. She removed her shirt holding her bra in place from falling; our eyes never seemed to break contact. I moved closer to her, placing an uneasy hand on hers. I began to pull it away from her meeting a slight hesitation before she gave in. The bra straps slid down her arms until they dangled loosely. I dropped the bra and started kissing her again. Her body was warm against mine as our bodies connected.

I hadn't been this anxious about something for as long as I could remember. A more confident hand now slid downward. I etched slowly under her shorts my fingertips tracing the hem of her underwear. My hand reached its destination, even through her panties I could feel the heat and wetness coming from her. As soon as I touched it her kissing became more intense.

XXXXXX

He was becoming bolder; I was just nervous and to scared to take the lead. Still, to think that Sasuke was actually touching me there. Every move of his fingers felt incredible and this was still almost nothing. His hand moved away and for a brief moment I was scared that he was going to retreat away. Instead I was greeted with the rest of my clothing being removed. As soon as he had finished with my clothes he removed the last of his own. Then he was looking down at me.

XXXXXX

I stared down at Sakura. She had never been more vulnerable than now. The moonlight played softly on her alright white skin. She was beautiful I could admit that to myself now. I went down to her kissing her again.

"Sasuke." her voice was strained "I've never done this before." That was surprising information.

"Me either." I admitted. She smiled, in a way that I probably never could. She was shaking and biting her lower lip as I began to put it in her. The sensation of her wrapping around me was almost impossible to describe. I moved slowly taking all feeling in. Sakura was wincing in pain.

"Are you alright?" I stopped moving; though I had no actual sexual experience before this I wasn't completely uneducated on the matter.

"It hurts just a bit, but keep going." She was still in some pain. I continued though, until I was completely inside her. The sensation was almost too much for me to handle. I had to focus I didn't want this to end so quickly.

"You're shaking." She wasn't referring to my body. I didn't realize that sex was this overwhelming the first time you had it. I had barely gone in and was nearly at my limit. "Go ahead. I don't care." I gave in to her. I barely had to move before my mind turned blank and I pulled her closer than I thought was possible. A noise escaped her lips as I came into her. I started to pull out.

"Don't." She held me in place. Minutes could have been hours as we lay there together. Before I knew it she was asleep again. I got off her as slowly as I could. I lay next to her pulling the sheets over us. My mind didn't seem to want to focus.

"_What are you doing Sasuke?"_ I was conflicted, I had spent the last several years of my life destroying all the ties to my past, and now that I was in a position to have a future I wasn't sure if I was ready. Ready to build a bond with someone, severing them was all I knew.

I needed a chance to think all this through; I snuck out of the bed and got dressed silently. I would be back, but I needed time to sort all this out, or god forbid someone to talk to it about.

XXXXXX

I woke up to the sun shining in my eyes, something that I absolutely hated. It only took me a second to realize that Sasuke was gone. In a way I wasn't really surprised, this was an overwhelming development. I needed to talk to someone about this; Ino was definitely out, because in five minutes all of Konoha would know about it. The answer was easy.

XXXXXX

"Kakashi?" I questioned opening the door to his room.

"Ah, Sakura. What brings you here?" He sat up. His treatments must have been going well.

"I need some advice."

"About Sasuke I presume?" The man could read me like a book, but the explanation was simple I didn't have anything else going on.

"Yeah, about Sasuke." I couldn't look him in the eye. "things got…out of hand last night. If you know what I mean." He was a closet pervert he knew what I meant. The man had a smut novel in his hand as we spoke.

"I'm surprised he would make you do that so soon." He made it sound like Sasuke could just order me to do it.

"He didn't make me." I spurted out. That finally got Kakashi's attention enough to get him to stop reading. "He wasn't there when I woke up, what does that mean?"

He paused for a moment pondering.

"He's doing exactly what you're doing right now. Off trying to put the pieces of it all together. He'll be back don't worry. Just go do whatever you had planned for the day." He pointed towards the door.

"Thank you, for everything." I started to slip out the door.

"Oh Sakura, one more thing." I poked my head back in. "How was it?" I almost threw the door at him. He had a lot of nerve.

"Pervert!" I yelled at him from the hallway. The echoes of his chuckling followed me for a few seconds.

XXXXXX

The hallways of the hospital were as crowded as always. The hustle of nurses, then inaudible chatter of all the people. It was easy to lose track of time here. I had lost a lot of it here, my medicinal skills now rivaled my teachers, but she was on her so called "vacation." This meant she was out blowing every dollar she had.

I decided to go see Naruto, maybe he had some kind of mission to do, small missions for a little pocket change sure beat twelve hour shifts at the hospital, even if it was my true calling. The Hokage mansion was a long walk from the hospital. If I wanted to get there faster I could have, but there was no need to break a sweat for nothing.

I always enjoyed these walks through the city; the hustle of daily life here was amazing if you stopped to take a look. Kids playing in the parks, the hum of the marketplace, the smells the sights. It was something new every time you came through.

The red building came into view, and I headed quickly inside. The cool air of the building was refreshment against the humidity of the outside. I headed up to the second floor to Naruto's office. Knowing him he was goofing off.

"Sakura good timing." His voice came through the door the moment before I knocked. I hated when he did that. I opened the door. "I have a mission. Something that needs checking into."

"what kind of mission?" I asked.

"Just reconnaissance…hopefully, you two will go with, Hinata and Kiba on this one."

"Us two?"

"Yeah, us two" Sasuke's voice stung me from behind. Naruto could have at least pointed him out.

"Apparently" Naruto continued. Several of the other nations aren't really happy with my decision to grant Sasuke asylum." He stared at a pile of paperwork with disgust. What did he think the other nations would think? He let an S class criminal wanted in every major nation waltz right back home. No offense to Sasuke, but there wasn't a bounty hunter out there who didn't have Sasuke in their bingo book.

"If people are after him why send him on this mission?"

"To protect you." That struck a nerve. I tried my best not to let it show. I didn't need protecting like when I was younger. "I don't expect you to run into anything that the four of you can't handle, but if you find out that there's an attack planned on anyone on Konoha I don't have to tell you what to do." Sasuke remained silent in the back of the room leaning against the wall. He was being his distant self again.

I didn't like going on these types of mission, they paid at the A level which was great, but you never knew when even a C rank mission would turn nasty.

"Sakura you'll be leading this one." That got my attention. This would be the first mission that I had ever led. Lately I had always been paired with other high ranking jonin like Kakashi. "I've already sent messages to Kiba and Hinata." Naruto interrupted my moment of glory. "They should be waiting for you by the time you're ready." He handed me the scroll containing more of the details about the mission.

I turned around, Sasuke was gone already. He was avoiding me. He wasn't ready to talk yet like Kakashi had said. I still didn't like it.

XXXXXX

I didn't expect this from Sakura, I expected her to want confessions of love after what happened last night. I walked beside her silently. We finally reached the gates to the village. The two others were already there. I was met with a fierce growl from the oversized dog Kiba was riding on. Clearly the thing didn't like me.

"Oh quiet down Akamaru." He patted the dog on the head a few times. He was going to get lazy riding that thing around like he was. "He's with us." His words didn't seem to comfort the dog which still whimpered slightly.

Sakura passed out radios and divided us into groups of two pitting me with the shy girl. She was looking at me like she had seen a ghost. This was the girl that was always hanging over Naruto even though he was too dense to notice. Her social skills hadn't improved it seemed.

She was just as silent as I was; I had nothing to say to her anyway. We divided ways with the other group. Keeping in short radio contact was we headed for the direction the scroll specified. It would hours to get there.

Her byakugan was activated the whole time. That would be a strain on her chakra should it come down to a fight. I never envied the byakugan, while it had a few advantages in its own right, in a fight it was next to useless unless you could utilize it properly, and that was limited to one specific manner. The sharingan was infinitely superior. To think that it supposedly descended from the byakugan. I would show them all.

XXXXXX

"Hey guys I think we got something." Kiba sent message to Sasuke and Hinata.

"How many are there?" I questioned. Akamaru barked something to Kiba.

"There's too many for use for to handle. A small invasion force I'd say. No less than two hundred here, with another rank behind them." Kiba sighed. They were here for Sasuke, a little overkill even for him. Who were they though? No small village could amount a force this size.

"Sasuke, Hinata, meet up with us." I signaled them on the radio. "Sasuke, can you send a message out?" I remember that he had summoned that hawk just a few days ago. It took just a few short minutes for them to arrive.

"They're Kumo ninja's" Hinata spoke up.

"Tch." The noise escaped Sasuke's lips and I knew why. It was the day after Konoha had been almost entirely destroyed. Kumo had a bad history with Konoha, and the Raikage in particular hated Sasuke. This was beginning to make me question Naruto's decision. He was on the verge of all out war.

"We need to get a message out. Sasuke?" He finally looked at me. He bit his finger, drawing a small flow of blood.

"Summoning jutsu." A normal sized hawk appeared from out of the smoke. I wrote the message explaining what we had found to Naruto. We would have to wait and see what his orders where. That could take hours depending on how fast the bird could fly.

"Everyone mask your chakra as best you can." Masking your chakra was a basic technique but it didn't work against techniques like the byakugan, or Kiba's sense of smell.

"Too late we've been picked up on" Kiba shouted. "They must have sensory types with them! A small group of about ten"

"Hinata, any more information?" The shy girl focused in the direction on the incoming force.

"They're just barely a half kilometer out and approaching rapidly! They should be here within a minute."

"Everyone be ready!" I hated killing people; I was a medic it just wasn't in me. Sasuke on the other hand was the polar opposite, his sharingan activated. I could feel the air around him change. His bloodlust was written on his face. This was a different Sasuke I thankfully hadn't seen in a long time.

The faint sounds of the once silent trees moving echoed around us. We were surrounded. The first attack was aimed at me. Typical battle strategy dictated you killed the medics first. Before I could even finish turning around to counter the man's arm flew by my face. Blood from the arm hit me like rainfall. Sasuke stood in front of me blade drawn now slightly dripping with blood.

The now armless mans screams were ended as Sasuke finished him in a blur of metal. I watched in horror as he dispatched our foes with ease. He wasn't even trying. Finally the last two remaining stepped forward. I recognized them as the ones who attacked us in Konoha when I wouldn't give them information on Sasuke.

"Who would have thought that the person we were sent to kill would come to us?" Karui walked forward, Omoi right behind her. They were Killerbee's students.

"Careful Sasuke!" I wondered if my words even reached him. The pair wasted no time going on the offensive, their long blades headed for Sasuke attacking in perfect harmony. As a duo they attacked him Sasuke just dodged and blocked. Their attacks didn't faze him in the least. His sharingan saw through their straightforward attacks.

XXXXXX

My sharingan was overkill on these two. Their swordsmanship was straightforward, but they didn't leave openings. I would just have to kill them outright, it would be easy. I activated my mangekyou sharingan. I focused my chakra to my eyes. Black flames instantly appeared on the girl. I moved to the other one, a look that's all it took to end them. They were insignificant.

The others were watching in a state of disbelief. What would they have done? This was how war was waged. The era of peace they had grown up with was brought upon by the very Uchiha they hated. They didn't know the truth of what their happiness was built on. They would learn the truth.

XXXXXX

The smell of blood and burnt flesh filled the air. Still the sounds of the two screaming as they were burnt down to nothing was imprinted in my mind replaying over and over. Even the ash was still being burnt away by the black flames that stood testament to their destruction.

How could he just blatantly kill people that way? His sharingan went away as I watched him. His face returned to its usual stoic state.

"We should go." He swiped his katana through the air; ever so light thumps of blood hit the earth. Akamaru began his whimpering again. I understood now what he had picked up on now before we had even left the village. There was still a part of Sasuke that was incredibly dangerous, but I had seen firsthand the light in him.

I ran to catch up with the others. Hinata looked like she was going to be sick. I didn't think she had seen anything like that before. She was so innocent, I kind of envied her for that, but reality was right at our heels.

XXXXXX

The village was a welcome sight. We hadn't been pursued into the inner borders of the fire country. The threat remained; the enemy could be here at anytime. There was so much to prepare for. I rushed through the city by rooftop straight for the Hokage's office. Naruto should have a full report by now. Sasuke trailed me silently.

"They want Sasuke!" I burst through the doors as soon as I made it to the office.

"I know that already, Kumo has already explained. It's Sasuke or war." He was looking out the window over the village. "It's not a fight they can win, they know that." He sighed, pounding his fist on the glass.

"So what do we do?"

"We wait, I won't instigate open war. Conflict only breeds conflict, right Sasuke?" He didn't reply with words, he just looked at Naruto.

"If they do anything we defend ourselves, nothing more." He looked sad, even in the reflection of the window, I could feel it. Naruto was incredibly against war, I knew that, but it was an unrealistic dream. War would definitely come.

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><p><strong>AUTHORS NOTE: and <strong>the plot thickens.


	5. The brink of war part two

So here we are on chapter 5. Writing this one is going to suck because I just burned my hand kinda bad. (funny story)

**DISCLAIMER: **Sing, O Muse, or speak, or dance, and so your audience entrance:

For voice, or step, or gilded phrase -

each art shall mortal minds amaze.

But Muse, ensure whatever work

is safe from harmful law and clerk,

the legal hounds who howl at we

who honor creativity.

Who honors more an artist's skill?

The fan who will the soul distill

from artistry, and so conceive

new tales from what that art achieved?

Or one who simply reads a book

and even if their heart is hooked,

tells none, nor lets their minds be swept

to lands where untouched tales are kept?

But yet let needful words be said,

which still I treat with grief and dread:

I own the narration within,

but not the world it happens in.

It isn't hard to separate

my words from those I emulate.

What's mine is mine, what's not is not,

I lay no claim to other plots.

So guard, Calliope, and Sing!

The humble words which I might bring

would in your speech flourish and thrive,

in ways I could scarcely contrive.

And reader, if you would allow

just one more moment, here and now

to introduce my nascent glory —

Sit back, relax, enjoy the story!

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><p>The water had a tint of red as it flowed over me. The blood that remained on my face and arm had dried. I was crying again, I had seen so many horrible things today. I still couldn't remove the picture of the two being burned alive. I finished my shower and headed back to the room to get dressed.<p>

Sasuke was back, he hadnt followed me home after I left him at Naruto's office. I couldn't decide if this was mine or his fault. I didn't want him to go, he scared me, but he had only been back a few days. I would never forgive myself if he left now.

He didn't greet me as I walked in, only for a quick moment did he even make eye contact. My fears about him leaving were coming to fruition. He was packing what little he had.

"What are you doing?" Why was he leaving? Did what happened the other night not matter to him? A million questions were running through my mind.

"This isnt Konoha's war to fight, its mine." He did care on some level.

"You don't have to fight them alone, even you cant win alone." I hugged him, he retreated slightly, I remembered Kakashi's words though and didn't take it to heart. "I don't want you to go, Naruto doesn't want to either." I would try anything to get him to stay.

"He should have never agreed to any of this." He stopped his packing. "If I don't go there will be war. It will be on our hands. Can you say that your ok with that just for me?"

"Of course!" The words came so easily, but they werent entirely true. "We love you, you belong here, why cant you see that?"

XXXXXX

Love. It was a foreign concept to me, but it was the driving force behind everything that Naruto and Sakura did. A war was nothing. Especially against a few hundred run of the mill shinobi that Kumo had brought. It did present an oppurtunity though.

XXXXXX

"Fine." My breathing stopped. "I'll stay." I was happy, but at the same time his being here also came with a high cost. His stay would mean the loss of lives. Could I live with myself after this? I would have to do all I could to save as many people as I could. I owed them all that. This was quickly becoming my own personal war.

An impatient knock on the door ended the conversation, Sasuke went to answer. I got dressed while the two discussed something, I recognized the other voice. Naruto was here, it wasn't likely the real him, but he had the advantage of being many places at once. I began to get dressed for full scale battle. Things could get out of hand at anytime.

"Here…" Sasuke blushed as he entered the room. He was going to have to get used to girls eventually. In a weird sort of way it was cute that he did that. He handed me one of the strange kunai that Naruto had started carrying around lately, I knew what it was for. It was in a way a personal insurance policy for everyone that had one.

I placed the kunai in my bag; its odd shape didn't let it fit in my regular carrier. Sasuke began changing out of the shirt he was wearing before and into a black shirt. It still bore the Uchiha crest like every shirt he wore. He never hid who he was, even though being anonymous would have been better at times. I envied his confidence in himself.

"His orders were clear, we don't start a war." He said after he finished changing.

"So what do we do for now?"

"We go eat." A small smirk appeared. He was right; we hadn't eaten since before we left this morning. Still, I didn't have much of an appetite when we sat down. There was far too much on my mind. I forced my meal down. It could potentially be a while before the next one.

It started to rain on our way out of the small restaurant. I scowled at the sky as the first few drops signaled their arrival on my arms. I had always hated the rain; mostly I just didn't like being wet. Rain was so inconvenient at times, but necessary.

Despite the rain we continued our patrol of the outer wall. At a regular walking pace it took several hours to go from one end to another. Every few hundred yards sensory type ninja had taken posts as an extra precaution. Sneaking into the village was nearly impossible. The barrier team was able to detect any point of entry into Konoha the moment they entered. At that point assuming an intruder entered an interception team confronts the intruder and called for reinforcements if necessary. There was no way something would get in unnoticed, but I still felt uneasy.

"Here" Sasuke grabbed my hand, pulling me under a tree. If I didn't know any better I would have taken it as some kind of romantic gesture. The odds of that were frustratingly low. I inwardly sighed to myself at the thought of a romantic Sasuke.

"You're shivering." He pulled me close. His body was unusually warm for being out in the rain. _"This is actually happening." _He was being legitimately nice and caring. It almost seemed like he was forcing himself, but I didn't care. I knew good and well that it would take time for him to adjust to things. This just showed that he was making a real effort. He pulled me down to the ground with him and leaned against the tree arms around me. I leaned fully against him soaking up the heat his body just seemed to radiate even in the cold air.

"What's gotten into you?" I asked after a few short minutes of watching the rain. This behavior, as much as I appreciated was just too different from what I had seen not to many hours ago.

"You were cold."

"That's it?" I was prying. Even just a glimpse of what was going through his mind would answer so many questions. In the past and even now Sasuke didn't really give answers that said what was really on his mind.

"You still ask a lot of questions." I should have seen that response coming. He just wasn't ready to openly express his feelings. I wanted to tell him how I felt. I had always loved him in some degree or another, even when things where at his worst. Something last night though had changed the way I thought of him, in a way I couldn't yet put my finger on.

"Let's head back now." I hadn't even noticed that noticed that the rain had all but stopped. Our clothes wanted to stick together as I stood up. I grabbed Sasuke hand and helped him up. That was when I sensed it.

"It takes that much out of you?" He looked at me confused, a rare emotion on his face that wasn't anger or stoic. "That jutsu you used this morning, amaterasu?"

"Yes."

"It made your eyes bleed too. You shouldn't use something like that! It was so horrible" I didn't let go of his hand as we started walking back to the complex. He didn't resist like the first time I had held it.

"Sorry." He mumbled after a few minutes of walking in silence. His tone even through the mumbling didn't sound sincere. Still, I didn't think that he would have even said it if on some level he didn't mean it.

XXXXXX

We didn't exchange anymore words the rest of the way home. The rain picked up again before we made it. It was colder this time, and nearly sunset by the time we made it. The storm began to get worse as we walked in. The distant rumbles of thunder echoed in the background as we both made for the bedroom leaving beads of water on the wooden floors behind us in our wake.

I grabbed a change of clothes to sleep in, something comfortable, but functional in case something happened. Sasuke began to head for the other room to change.

"You don't have to leave." I couldn't say that I was entirely comfortable changing with him, but how else could we get more comfortable with each other? He looked at me confused. "Seriously, who knows, I always have a hard time getting out of these when they're wet."

_"OH my god that sounded like a cheesy thing that Naruto would say. Why did I say that he's going to think I'm some kind of crazy pervert?_ Was I a pervert? I know that he kissed me first but, the sex was all me.

"Ok?" He looked at me with the same look he gave Naruto every time his mouth opened. That was just great. While I was lost in thought I felt something pulling up the undershirt that I was wearing. I hadn't even noticed that he was right in front of me, now stripping me down.

I stared into his eyes; they were so dark you could barely make out his pupils. I raised my arms up as he pulled my shirts off. My body was starting to react to his touches, aside from the boldness of undressing me he still seemed timid to actually give into himself.

I pulled his shirt off, it was sleeveless, but the fabric still hung desperately to him. Once his shirt removed we hit a lull, I didn't want to make the first move again. I technically didn't last time. He caught my sign to take the lead and lead me towards the bed.

"It'll get wet." I hinted at our pants, another sentence in just a few minutes that he could take the wrong way. He blushed again; I got a sick satisfaction out of making him blush. It proved he wasn't as emotionless as he came off to people. It was as close to his thoughts that I might ever get.

I stripped my pants off, exposing myself to him. He turned away in embarrassment. I went up to him grabbing the hem of his pants

"It's ok." I grabbed his hand and pulled it toward me, a jolt jittered up me as it reached my destination. His fingers slid easily into me as I kissed him on the neck. I undressed what little remained on him, kissing him farther and farther down his chest until his pants had reached the floor.

He pulled me up, and then laid me down on the bed. Our bodies were still slick from the water as our bodies touched. I could feel myself twitching in anticipation. His fingers returned to me as he sat down pulling me up into his lap. His other hand was caressing my breasts. I still hated they were so small, but it was just a fleeting thought as my mind started to go blank.

I closed my eyes when he entered me, instantly sending me near my limit. I opened them again to him kissing on the back of my neck. Then a horror appeared right in front of me. I would have preferred it have been an enemy and they killed us both at this very moment over who just showed up using his stupid kunai.

"Naruto!" His back was turned as I shouted in a panic. He turned around. I had nothing to cover us with we were lying on the blankets. He stared for a moment with a stupid look of disbelief in his eyes.

"Naruto?" Sasuke was slow to catch on; the kunai had a seal with a space time jutsu on it. Similar to the summoning jutsu, only you could use it on yourself, to go anywhere there was a kunai with that seal on it. I didn't know all the detail regarding it. Naruto was very secretive of it.

"Stop staring and get out!" I was beyond embarrassed.

"Sorry I came to talk to Sasuke about something I didn't think that you guys would be…you know" He still hadn't stopped staring.

"If you don't stop looking at us I will kill you where you stand." Naruto had learned over the years through many a skull bashing that that was my serious tone and that I backed up all my threats. Sasuke was attempting to shrink away behind me.

"Well when you guys are…done…just come see me later Sasuke." With that he was gone as quickly as he came. "At the ramen stand" He popped in for a second again, causing me to jump off Sasuke.

"I'm going to kill him. I am really going to do it! I'm going to walk into his office and spill his noodle brains all across the floor!" I was in such a rant that I barely noticed Sasuke getting changed.

"I'm going." I calmed for my rant for a moment at his words

"Be back soon" He left the room "And kill Naruto!" I shouted after him. I sighed and crawled into the blankets that were now slightly damp. I had slept in worse. _"Damn it Naruto."_ I wondered if I was going to get any sleep tonight.

XXXXXX

_"All in good time Sakura, all in good time"_ I headed out to find the idiot at that ramen stand he practically lived at.

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><p><strong>Authors note:<strong> consider yourselves (those who really follow this story) lucky that Kansas has decided to have thunderstorms and keep me up….hence the rain and stuff in this chapter. So because of that I bring this chapter to you, (although it's the shortest one it was going to be that way anyways) a day earlier than I intended.


	6. Rain

**Authors note:** In case you haven't noticed, which I'm sure a lot of you haven't, I pretty much pump out a chapter a day, which is typically around 3000 words…Now, I may find myself computerless next week depending on how some things pan out. Hopefully I will be able to continue my work though. But yeah no joke the moment I post a chapter rest assured that I have already started the next one.

This chapter will be very Sasuke centric over the Sakura…now you say Sasuke is a hard person to keep in character. I couldn't agree more. What helps me write him is I think back to the video games I play like Fallout 3, or Mass Effect (games of that nature.) and I think how much of an ass can I be while still getting my goals accomplished. Even if it means stabbing a few people in the back. That ladies and gentleman (mostly ladies, apparently) is how you write Sasuke.

Also, the reason this chapter took two days instead of one, is because i had to do quite a bit of research for this one.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any related characters. I also don't own Futurama (that's important, remember that I do however, own Kakashi….as a plush)

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><p>The last person I wanted to see right now was Naruto. He was by far the most annoying person I had ever known. Even over Karin. That reminded me of her, in all likelihood she was here in Konoha. It had been nearly two years since I left her lying on the ground with a hole through her chest. She most likely wasn't being allowed to see me, not like she could fight her way to me. The only good thing about her was her sensor abilities. At least Sakura was somewhat useful in a fight.<p>

The rain was still coming down when I left. This time I bothered to take an umbrella. Naruto was already waiting at the stand, slurping noodles noisily into his mouth. His lack of etiquette only annoyed me more as I moved the flaps and sat down next to him.

"So, you and Sakura are already…well you know?" _"Way to exercise some discretion."_ The man needed to learn something called tact and fast.

"Don't ever bring that up. What did you want anyways?" The ramen shop owner was looking at me. I sighed inwardly, I didn't care for ramen. "Just give me whatever he is having." I doubted that I would hardly touch it.

"You and I are going to end this conflict tomorrow." His obnoxious voice changed to his serious tone.

"How are we going to do that so simply?"

"The Raikage is here." That pinched a nerve for me. "It's him who wants you, the rest of his troops don't want much to do with this conflict let alone have to go toe to toe with, either of us."

"How would you know?"

"The shadow clone jutsu was originally used to spy you know?" I did know that, the shadow clone jutsu was not something I used in the least, not to say that I couldn't use it, it was just that my chakra wasn't very high to begin with. Cutting it into half, or even thirds was pointless. In addition to the fact that my chakra control, even with all the training I had done, still wasn't perfect. I still wasted nearly five percent of the chakra I used on jutsu's.

"What of it?" I already knew where he was going with this, but I asked regardless.

"I made a deal with the Raikage." He slurped more noodles down. "You and I will settle this, against him and someone else." He continued his eating. My bowl was put in front of me, the smell of salt and meat mixed together assailing my nostrils. Even the smell was bad.

As for the Raikage, I could take him; sure his speed was literally second to no one, rendering the standard use of my sharingan useless. Even the strength of his attacks could more than likely rip the layers off my Susano'o. That left me with more than enough options to take him out. Still he had proved tenacious before, stupidly sacrificing an arm just for one blow. If Gaara hadn't stopped him he would have lost all his limbs.

Still I knew who likely the other person we would fight would be. The Raikage's so called brother. He was the jinchuuriki host who we were supposed to bring in those years ago. He would be good practice.

"I'll take it that I don't have a choice in the matter?" I played it off like I didn't want to do it.

"Of course not." A flash of lightning filled the stand followed a few seconds later by an enormous blast of thunder. It sent ripples through the broth of my untouched ramen. "Meet me at the gates tomorrow at noon." He set his bowl down, and in a flash was gone, leaving me with an unpaid tab of ramen I didn't even eat. He was so frustrating. I paid the man, I was surprised that Naruto didn't have some kind of tab set up; he probably kept them in business single handedly.

XXXXXXX

The weather only continued to get worse I headed back. The streaks of lightning shooting across the sky were a pleasant change to the typical night sky. Watching it seemed to make the time it took to get home fly. I changed out of my pants which were wet and got into bed. Sakura was sleeping soundly, and as far as I could tell hadn't woken up as I got in.

I cuddled up next to her, it was against my nature, but I needed her as much on my side as possible. She was the key to my plan, in that way I cared for her. She was muttering something softly and inaudible in her sleep. I tried to make out some of it to no avail.

It would be so much easier if I could let go and fall for her, but risk losing my goals in the process. I reconsidered Itachi's plan, could I even let go enough, revenge was all I knew. He wanted me to restore the clan to the pride and respect that my brother longed for. Was I being childish? It was his own doing that I was an avenger.

Still till I had what I needed I would have to play the part. I had to appear to be adjusting.

XXXXXXX

The morning light shown into my eyes, waking me from another night of dreamless sleep. I glanced up at the clock; I still had a few hours until I had to go. The sound of water running in the other room weren't a surprise; I wasn't sure why she always took a shower the first thing in the morning after she woke up. It was impractical over taking one after the day was over.

Still, I couldn't ignore the fact that I always needed to use the restroom first thing when I woke up in the morning. I forced my way out of bed, and headed for the restroom. The door wasn't locked, so I snuck in. The shear humidity of the room was overbearing as I made my way for the toilette. With any manner of luck she wouldn't notice me. The sound of running water obscured the noise I was making. I finished and started heading out.

"Sasuke?" I turned around to a blob of pink poking out of the shower curtains. I disappeared before she could see me through the haze of the room.

I began to get ready, now that I had relieved myself. If the eight tails was going to be fighting I needed a second sword. His style was highly unorthodox with no set pattern of attacks. He had even managed to use the fact that my sharingan follows everything against me in an involuntary reflex.

A second katana could help greatly against his multi-sword style. I didn't have time to have another one made, even if there was a smith who could make one to my needs.

"Were you just in the bathroom?" Sakura popped up in the doorway, brushing the knots out of her hair adding droplets to the water from the night before. She was wrapped up only in a towel again. I didn't think that I would become attracted to her. Attraction was something that I had never had the time, nor felt the need to bother with. Maybe it was my lack of experience being around a girl that was causing these feelings.

"Yea, I needed to use the bathroom." I put my katana in my shimenawa*. Sakura had a flustered look on her face.

"Geez, you could have asked at least." I didn't think it was all that big of a deal. It wasn't like I hadn't already seen her naked before. "Where are you going anyways?"

"We have a fight with the Raikage and likely the eight tales jinchuuriki." I sighed.

"What! How could you not tell me we had to fight them? Is that what Naruto wanted last night?" She was talking very fast; I didn't pay attention to all the questions that were coming out of her mouth.

"Sakura!"My tone may have been too harsh, but it got her attention. "Not you and me, Naruto is going with me." This fight with Naruto was far more for me than just a simple team up. It was my chance to get some information on his techniques. This fight would pay off in more than one way in the end.

"You could both be killed!" Her past frustration disappeared as she clung to me. I didn't normally like being clung to, but I needed her on my side. At the very least I was stuck with her until I had my heirs, which left almost a year or more that I had to hold up this charade.

"We'll be fine." A false promise in most certainty we would both be injured in some way in this fight. I pulled her closer; her wet hair clung coldly to the exposed parts of my chest.

"I hope so, I just got you back, I would die if I lost you again." A distinctive drop hit my chest. "I wish that you didn't have to do this." I was speechless, I didn't know what to say.

"I'm not going anywhere." It was the first thing that came to my mind, and it was true for the most part. I would stay until it was no longer beneficial to. This duel was pushing that line, but it was too soon to turn back. I had gained too much ground to bail out.

"I do need something for this fight, maybe you could help me out." I broke the moment, but I still needed to prepare for this fight.

"Anything."

"I need another katana" She pondered it over for a few moments.

"Well I don't personally have one, but I do know someone who should have one, if he'll let you borrow it."

"Who?" I didn't like to guess at these things, but from her tone I had a good idea of who she was referring to.

"Well Kakashi would likely have one, he was in ANBU all those years, and that's standard issue for them." She was right, but I was in no position to be negotiating things with Kakashi. It had hardly been a week since I attempted to assassinate him. The attempt would have been successful if Sakura hadn't interfered.

"I don't think he will let me…"

"Your going that's final." Her tone intensified. "You owe him." I owed Kakashi nothing, but I couldn't lose Sakura over a simple argument. Despite all the facts I did need her.

"Fine, let's go ask him then." I pretended to give in.

XXXXXX

I hated hospitals, they were crowded and noisy places. Sakura on the other hand gave of a sense of nostalgia as she walked through the halls, leading us to Kakashi's room.

"Kakashi?" Sakura walked into the room, tugging me along when I hesitated for a split second.

"Yo." he extended the same greeting as I always remembered him using. "Well I wasn't expecting the both of you." His eye jumped to me for an instant before diving back into the book I was reading. The man had changed very little, I hadn't noticed before since I was too busy trying to kill him. The years were finally starting to catch up with him slightly, even though he was only about fifteen years older than us. The mask still covered his face. I briefly wondered if Sakura or Naruto had ever seen it, I doubted it though.

"Kakashi do you have a katana that he could use?" Sakura wasn't wasting any time. I watched Kakashi's expression for any sort of change, but there wasn't one.

"Hmm?" He pretended to be in thought, an annoying trait about him. "Sakura, let me and Sasuke have a little talk first." Sakura frowned, but left the room closing the door behind her. "Have a seat." His tone changed, it was just like when he tied me to that tree. I didn't like to be lectured.

"A little bird told me you and Sakura are getting along _very_ well." Naruto, of course he had probably told everyone he knew by now, he was so dense. I had no comeback to Kakashi's comment.

"Let me tell you a story about Sakura, something that not even Naruto knows about." He actually had my interest. "Have you ever met her parents?"

"I think I may have seen her dad at the academy graduation, but I can't be sure. It's been a very long time." Where was he going with this? It wasn't like Kakashi ask pointless questions.

"When Naruto left for training with Master Jiraiya, he parents were on a mission." I had an idea of where this was going now.

"I'm sure you've figured it out by now." I seriously thought for a moment that he was reading my mind. "They both died on that mission. They were looking for you." For some reason my stomach felt like it dropped. "She blames herself for their deaths, because she couldn't stop you from defecting." I was left speechless, Sakura hid her feelings so well, how could she love me when I was the direct cause of her families death.

"When Akatsuki destroyed the village two years ago she stayed with me, I caught her crying every morning in the shower. That's how I found out." Kakashi let out a sigh. "She loves you Sasuke. She always has, even when things were at the worst she thought of you. She's been like a daughter to me for the past few years. If you hurt her, I will find a way to kill you." I could see the false smile even through his mask. Silence filled the room disturbed only by the sounds of footsteps in the hall.

"In my home there's one you can use, in a case under my bed, you'll need this to open it." He tossed me a small key. "Try not to break it, it cost me a small fortune to have repaired."

"Thank you." It was sincere, for whatever reason everyone around who should hate me was going out of their way to help. I didn't understand.

XXXXXXX

I stood up as Sasuke came out of the room.

"Did he have one?" He held up a small key, I could only think of one thing that Kakashi kept locked up in his house it was a long box that he kept under his bed. I had once decided to snoop while he was away on a mission for a few days, I found a few things that I really wish I hadn't. Though the only thing in the whole house that was locked was that box, and now I could find out what was inside. It was some type of weapon obviously, but not a Katana.

Iled Sasuke to Kakashi's as quick as I could and brought the box to him. I watched anxiously as he stuck the key in and opened the box he pulled out a tantō*. It was slightly longer than a normal one.

"What does that say?" I caught a glimpse of a kanji on the blade.

"…Comrades." I watched Sasuke smile. After spending time with Sai I could tell that it was a genuine smile. He gave the tantō a small swing, a white light shone from it suddenly.

"I know what that is, Kakashi said it was broken!"

"He said he spent a small fortune having it fixed. What is it?" He sheathed the blade and placed it next to his regular weapon.

"It's the White Light Chakra Saber. It was his father's." a questioning look appeared on Sasuke's face. He seemed to be lost in thought a lot today.

"Let's go I have to go meet Naruto at the gates soon." I grabbed his hand as we headed out the door, for the first time it wasn't tense and he was holding mine back.

XXXXXXX

"You ready?" Naruto was wearing an unusually large scroll on his back with an overcoat that read 'The Seventh Hokage.'

It started to rain again.

"I'll be waiting for you." Sakura kissed me as we headed out of the gates. I looked over at Naruto, who bore that same boyish grin.

"Not a word."

"Oh, and before I forget." Naruto was good at forgetting. "Here, I had them make you a new one." I almost laughed at what he handed me. He had a sick obsession with these headbands. I put it on. I knew he wouldn't stop trying to get me to the whole way there if I didn't. It was black like his but not as long. Somehow though, It felt right.

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><p><strong>Translation note*<strong>Just in case you didnt figure it out it the shimenawa is the purple rope Sasuke wears

**Authors note: **I seriously want to thank all the people who read this story. For the six days in may that i had it up, i had nearly 1400 hits and 500 views. but disturbingly few reviews...Anyways thanks for the encouragement for the first story ive ever written EVER.


	7. Battle

**Authors note:** Here is the seventh chapter. The relationship between Naruto and Sasuke is a particularly tricky one to write, so I hope I don't blotch it. On another note WOW! I went to work at 4, and when I came back home at 11ish I had like 500 more hits shattering any previous days record. Thanks to the many readers of this fic.

Also I added a simple poll at the top of my profile, so vote.

And seriously people review, I could really use some input as to how you think I'm doing.

**Disclaimer:** Yeah, I still don't own Naruto….yet (just kidding I never will)

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><p>I followed Naruto and Sasuke along with several masked ANBU members. Naruto still hadn't mentioned where this fight would take place, but I had a decent idea. We were headed in the direction where Naruto defeated pain, the area was still battle scarred even now. It was a good middle ground that wasn't terribly far from the village.<p>

Naruto was talking to Sasuke about his triumph in becoming Hokage. It reminded me of when we first became a team; Naruto would talk, and talk. While Sasuke did what he was still doing what he was doing now, listening in silence. I only wished that the reason we were all out here was different. I didn't like the idea of Sasuke or Naruto going off to fight such dangerous opponents. Naruto could handle himself he had matured so much; people had begun to liken him to the Fourth Hokage. Only a select few people knew that he was his son, but I could tell that it meant the world to him.

Still, in many ways the three of us were now the same, surpassing the previous generation and our teachers. The Legendary Sannin they were called, I wondered if the three of us would ever achieve such a similar title. I knew that the others were certainly legendary, I just felt average. The fact that I was considered the best medic in Konoha for some reason didn't seem to comfort me. I wanted to be by Sasuke's side when he fought, but in the end I knew that the upcoming battle would be on a whole different level than the type of fights I typically engaged in.

They were all straightforward fighters of the highest level. I was positive the sheer scale would be amazing. I had only caught glimpses of these types of battles. Where there was no hiding, where every tactic and jutsu you had was out in the open. Where the slightest mistake, or opening meant certain death. It wasn't enough just to have strong attacks, you needed some type of defense. That was where I was lacking, and why I couldn't possibly be in this fight, even if I wanted to be.

The rain was beginning to get annoying; luckily I had donned an overcoat that was doing an excellent job of keeping most of me dry. We arrived at the battleground all too soon. The ANBU and I went up on a ridge overlooking the vast expanse of open terrain; from there we could see the Raikage, and the eight tailed jinchuuriki, Bee.

I had a gut wrenching feeling in my stomach as Naruto, and Sasuke approached the pair.

XXXXXXX

"So I see you had the confidence to come, Sasuke Uchiha." Why did the Raikage have to be so obnoxious? He hadn't managed to beat me before and my powers had greatly increased since then. The eight tails carrying a different sword, I recognized it. It was the same Kisame was carrying around; the one Suigetsu was trying to get from him. In the hands of a jinchuuriki it made them nearly invincible to a normal opponent, but neither I nor Naruto were close to normal.

"Yo, Bee!" Naruto and the eight tailed beast bumped fists, now that I thought about it the two were by far the most annoying people I knew. Naruto, with his excessiveness, and Bee, with his rapping. Still it was odd that two people about to battle it out to the death could be so friendly towards one another.

"Yo, Naruto I aunt seen you since we fought my bro." He was still rapping, somehow though I wasn't surprised.

"Bee we're not here to be friendly!" The Raikage always seemed to be yelling.

"Naruto?" I got his attention. "Let me take the eight tails. I have to do something about that sword of his."

"No, I'll fight him."

"I don't think that that is such a good idea."

"You should have discussed strategy before you came!" The Raikage made the first moved, luckily at this distance he wasn't able to build up to full speed. Even so I barely managed to dodge his attack. His wrestling style moves were unorthodox; still my sharingan struggled with his speed. I had something new in store for the Raikage, a true ultimate defense.

I activated my Susano'o and watched in pain as violet swept around me. The Susano'o was incredibly painful to use, it seemed to suck the energy right out of your cells.

"Amaterasu" I felt the familiar streak of blood running down my cheeks, the strain on the eyes was incredible. That was no longer an issue, since I had my brothers' eyes.

"That again? You already know that won't work on me!" He charged my Susano'o. His strike would likely shatter several layers off, possibly down to the bone form, but it would be his last punch. He clearly hadn't learned from the last encounter where he lost his left arm.

"Bro stop!" Bee, shouted, but the Raikage had the same sense of bloodlust that I had often worn. Defeating the enemy at all costs, his head was out of the game. Whether he had stopped or made no difference. I didn't need him to hit the Susano'o; it was just easier if he did.

His fist made contact, shattering the first two layers with a blood curling sound. As soon as he made contact I brought my technique into play, my target was not the Raikage with my Amaterasu, but my Susano'o. Violet turned to black, even the pieces that had broken off turned to flame. I had mastered my ability to control the black flames out even to the point of using it as a sort of pseudo armor. It was not without its risks, as most high level jutsu's had. If the Susano'o were to be moved I would have nowhere to escape to. That would be more possible with someone like Naruto who wouldn't actually have to touch it to move it.

His absolute determination for me death had officially become his downfall. I let out a crooked smile. Strength was nothing if you didn't have the intelligence to control yourself.

The Raikage's fist had ignited, I stopped my technique it had already accomplished its purpose. As the black flames disappeared I could see Naruto beginning to engage Bee. Naruto was in sage mode as far as I could tell. The brief glimpse of his eyes before he made his attack was the only indicator. The Raikage was yelling for Bee's help with his arm. Like removing another would make a difference at this point. If his hand wasn't gone at this point it would be soon. That was one of the few drawbacks of the Amaterasu. The flames burned slowly, something unfortunate to those caught in it.

Naruto managed to dodge Bee's swing with the Sameheda*. _"What's happening to it?" _The sword, the exposed parts at least, were turning to what appeared to be stone. How had he managed that? The Sameheda absorbed chakra, and technique he used should have been nullified.

"Nature energy is very difficult to control; looks like your sword couldn't handle it." So, his sage mode was extremely risky as well. I had never heard of nature energy before now, I would need to attempt to find out more about it. He was so stupid I could probably just get him to tell me everything about it.

"To bad for you I don't have one sword, but two. Two more to go, that don't absorb chakra Yo." His rapping was utterly terrible. The overly large sword, if it could even be called that; shattered as it hit the ground. I planned to destroy it with the Amaterasu, but Naruto seemed to find a much more effective way. His skills were improved. Still Bee didn't have just one sword. He still carried his typical eight from the first time we fought. A decision that was now proving to be wise.

"We're not done!" The Raikage was shouting, his voice strained by the sheer amount of pain he had to be in. I was more surprised that he was even able to move. My Susano'o had been deactivated, I needed mobility if I was going to help Naruto against Bee. I was forced to activate the Susano'o but only the rib cage portion, it was more than enough to stop his kicks. Though ferocious, were starting to lose their strength.

Soon the Raikage would be dead. I smiled crookedly at him, confirming his fate. One more obstacle was out of the way.

XXXXXXX

Why did it have to be that technique? Those black flames were one of the sickest jutsu I could even contrive. Slowly killing someone that way. It was the third person I had seen Sasuke kill with it. This time was even worse, we were too far away to hear the screams but I could see him yelling, never once stopping his onslaught against Sasuke. How could one man hate someone so much?

My eyes moved over to Naruto, I couldn't bring myself to watch Sasuke any longer. He was fighting the other one, a jinchuuriki like him. They apparently knew each other, Naruto had mentioned him several times. I could see Naruto just attempting to dodge his attacks.

"Naruto!" I screamed when I saw him get pierced through the body, even at this distance I could tell that it would be fatal if I didn't treat him immediately. My fears were relieved when an all too similar smoke signaled the dissipation of the shadow clone. I should have known better, it literally his signature jutsu.

Sasuke was rushing towards the two, they had moved away from him during the course of their fight. His movements were slower, he had used too much chakra up in his fight with the Raikage. What was he thinking taking on such a strong opponent?

XXXXXX

"No stay back!" I shouted to Sasuke, this was a fight that he couldn't hope to win, it was just a bad match up for him. Still he came, blood was flowing from his left eye, caused by the apparent strain on his eyes from the Amaterasu.

"You'll need this." He handed me the second blade that he had been carrying throughout the day. I had wondered what it was for. I unsheathed the blade. The blade was very similar to the one Sai carried and on the side read "comrades."

"Let me handle him." I wasn't being rude to him, I just didn't think that Bee was someone that he could handle. The way Bee told me, he had given Sasuke quite the ass kicking off a lifetime. Also aside from being worn out Sasuke didn't have the chakra nature advantage like I had.

I ran chakra through the blade, doing what Asuma had taught me all those years ago. I could sense it now much better than. The blade began to glow with a bright white light. "_That's weird it's usually blue. Where did Sasuke get this"_ There wasn't time to ponder the specifics. I actually owed what I was doing to Sasuke, extending the blade to normal size using chakra alone.

"Here make yourself useful and hold these." I handed Sasuke the contract toad that allowed me to summon my clones back and gain more sage chakra. I also handed him a kunai like the one I had given Sakura early on when Sasuke had returned. I wanted to trust him, but I couldn't be a fool and overlook his past. I would have to keep my guard up until I was sure I could totally trust him.

I turned back to Bee, so far our exchanges had been light. In honesty I didn't want to kill him, but his mood had changed since Sasuke brought the Raikage down. He was usually passive about things and quickly overlooked things, but this was something that couldn't be overlooked.

I made the first move in this exchange. I had the advantage, he wouldn't be able to guard, and he knew it. He wasted no time and moved into tailed beast mode. The Ox was larger than the Kyuubi. This was troublesome though. He was preparing a tailed beast ball, and aiming at me and Sasuke. I couldn't waste any time. The best bet I had was the rasenshuriken. I never cared for the noise it made, a small price to pay though. I threw it vertically into the path of the now incoming blast. It was a hope, I watched my plan work however, and the force of the shuriken divided the blast in two around us. Still even the force at the short distance nearly knocked me off my feet.

As the smoke cleared I realized I had only managed to injure him, a large amount of blood was escaping the wound on his head, and another tip of his horn had also been removed.

"Sasuke, run, get out of here, it's about to get far worse" I could see the disgust in his eyes that I was ordering him to leave, but I couldn't keep protecting him in this fight. He maybe had one more go for the Amaterasu, something that Bee had managed to escape in the past. Also the fact that it wouldn't stop a raging tailed beast. He was becoming a liability fast "That's an order" my look was stern and I didn't have time to keep protecting him. He would soon get the picture of why he needed to get out of here. I focused inwards, unleashing what I had been given.

XXXXXXX

"Sasuke!" I screamed his name at the top of my lungs. Watching in terror as he was thrown away from the force of Naruto's transformation. I lost sight of him as he disappeared into the cloud of dust that came in Naruto's wake. I reacted instinctively racing in the direction I saw him last. I moved down the cliff as fast as my legs would permit, the ground was slippery from the rain, giving me another reason to curse it.

To some relief the dust was falling fast, I ignored the battle taking place not too far away, I had to find Sasuke fast. It didn't take me long to find him in the barren landscape.

"Sasuke?" He was unconscious, bleeding from his ears and nose, damage from the pressure wave that threw him here. How could Naruto be so reckless? A large blast deafened the area behind us. The echoes off the cliffs mimicked the thunder of the storm. I picked him up, his body was heavy, now would have been a good time for my strength to be like people exaggerated it to be. One of the ANBU members appeared next me and helped me carry him back to where we were vieweing from.

Sasuke's life wasn't in any immediate damage, but I continued to check him for signs of internal bleeding, not all of drops of water hitting him were rain. It was times like this where I wish I had a better handle on my emotions. I just felt incredibly guilty so much death was happening because of mine and Naruto's desire for Sasuke. Yet deep down I didn't care for the loss, I had what I had always wanted and I would never let him go. Not again.

"He's done it." One of the ANBU guards sighed in relief. I looked up, in time to see the Kyuubi disappearing from view and being replaced by Naruto. He appeared next to us, the look on his face told it all. Naruto had an extreme dispassion for killing. It had an odd effect on him, and he had just killed a friend for another friend's sake. Still I couldn't hold my own emotions back.

"You could have killed him!" I slapped him across the face. He didn't even seem fazed by it.

"I gave him an order, and he didn't want to follow it. It was the only way I could guarantee his safety. He was talking in a low tone, trying not to sound upset.

"Does he look like he was safe?" I wanted to hit him again.

"He would be dead!" He finally snapped "I did what was necessary!"

No words were spoken on the way home, I opted to care for Sasuke there. I could easily care for his injuries there, he didn't like the hospital anyways. It was the least I could do for him.

XXXXXX

I awoke to find Sakura sitting asleep in a chair next to the bed. My head pounded in protest to my movements. My clothes had been changed and a towel lay across my forehead. My body was sore and resisted when I got out of bed. I moved as silently as I could over to her and picked her slowly up out of the chair. She didn't stir as I put her down where I had just been lying. I lay back down next to her pulling her close, even though my muscles almost screamed in protest. The sound of the rain hitting the roof began to lull me back into sleep, and for a brief moment I was to my own surprise, truly happy to have her.

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><p><strong>Authors note: <strong>Yeah, battle scenes aren't really my thing, if you like it great, if you think it sucked. Sorry I tried. Moving on, this was another chapter that really made me pull out my Naruto bible a lot of researching into things, but totally worth the extra time involved. This also might be my last chapter for a while, we'll see hopefully if it is it's not for to terribly long.

Also I put a simple poll in my profile so vote


	8. Improvement

**Authors note:** Again people I do apologize if that last chapter was a big ball of suck. The story moves on however to better chapters. Ok so the good news is that my chapters will continue close to my regular pace, I say close, because I have a lot more hours now at my work. So hopefully it doesn't slow me down too much.

**To my reviewers:** ah this is a new section I'm going to add from now on.

To faye: (I hope there's a valentine that follows that) yeah I was kinda worried that it would seem short. But hopefully this one seems like a longer read.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of its characters in this story. This story is from my own mind and as such is fan fiction, though; my inspiration to write did come from reading fan fiction. As I am typing this I wonder if anyone will actually read it. I don't see the point in typing a disclaimer because, come on, the name of the site is fan fiction, **FAN-FICTION**. If I could publish real fiction, I would be doing that instead of working my crappy job.

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><p>My stomach did a one-eighty as I was thrown violently from the bed, I didn't have a chance to think of who it was that threw me as I burst through the wall and into the street. The cold rain gave my senses a shock as I staggered to stand back up.<p>

"Naruto, no!" Sakura was screaming from inside the room. I looked up in time to see Naruto grab me by the throat.

"You still think that you're all that huh?" He was choking me, his hands had a firm grip around my throat, and the stench of sake was coming from his breath.

"Naruto let him go!" Sakura ran over to us, attempting to get Naruto to let me go. He was ignoring her, staring me in the eyes. The few seconds that were passing seemed like hours as I found myself struggling to stay conscious. I coughed violently as he dropped me to the ground.

"What is your problem? You think you're the only person who had a bad childhood, or lost their family. So you think you can act however you want, Huh? You completely ignore everything you have." Even though his face was wet with the rain I could see the tears running from his cheeks. Why was he crying?

"What do you know? You never had anyone to lose." I managed to spit out despite the pain in my throat.

"I've lost plenty, and so has she, but I always knew how to turn that pain around and gain so much more back. You lost your family, pick yourself up and start again. That girl right there loves you, through the thick and this of your bullshit; she has always cared about you." He

"She tried to kill me once."

"Because, she didn't want me to have to do it. She was trying to do what I didn't have the heart to then." I had never thought of it that way, I was fairly certain that she just wanted me dead. Sakura was staring intently at us. "You can have a family…We're right here. Neither one of us will ever leave you. No one should be alone in this world.

I was left speechless lying on the ground, I still barely had the strength to stand from the events of the day, and I didn't particular enjoying being thrown through things. The feelings inside me were attempting to pour out. I instinctively held them in, I wanted all of those things, but why couldn't I let myself have them. Even when they were being offered to me.

"The next time I tell you to do something, you'll do it." He turned his back and started walking down the streets, until finally the rain obscured him from view

"Sasuke are you alright?" Sakura was hovering over me attempting to help me up off the ground. I took her hand, my arm didn't even want to lift that much. Why didn't I let myself go like that, I more than likely could have beaten the Raikage without those techniques? At the time I just wanted him dead, and now he was. It didn't make me feel any better, even when I killed Danzo and the elders involved with Itachi, all I wanted was more death. I had become some kind of monster.

She put me down on the bed. _"Why did Naruto have to throw me through the wall" _a large portion of it now littered the street. Rain was still hitting me even inside

"Come on, I know it's kind of far, but at least it will be warm and dry." She had packed several changes of clothes, it would take some time before the house could be fixed, and I knew that as she helped me along to an unknown destination.

XXXXXXX

I knocked on the door, one last task for my strained arms. I just hoped that she was even here. If not I could still get in. The familiar click of the lock was a sigh of relief. A sleepy Ino appeared in the doorway rubbing her eyes.

"Oh my god what happened?" Her eyes came to life and she was all over Sasuke, typical Ino. It's not like I wasn't cold and wet too. Still, she had a huge crush on him once to and hadn't seen him for nearly seven or eight years now.

"Naruto decided I needed an attitude adjustment." It was strange to hear Sasuke use humor like that. His throat had a terrible bruise on it now; I hadn't been able to see it before.

"Can we stay here Ino?" The question was just a formality; I knew she wouldn't say no.

"Of course, you both can." She winked at Sasuke, she really was a pig. She even had a boyfriend. I doubted she would ever cheat on him though. It took her years to accept her feelings.

"Come on let's get you cleaned up." I tugged Sasuke to the shower and cranked up the hot water. Locking the door behind me. A pleasant steam began to fill the air as I pulled the clothes of Sasuke. A shot of embarrassment flew up him as I removed the last of his clothing; it was a rare moment where he couldn't resist even if he wanted to.

"Well get in, you need to warm up." I forced him into the hot water, pulling the shower curtain closed behind him. The steam was incredibly welcome as it filled the room. I wanted to fall back asleep, but too much had happened. I didn't even know what time it was. Regardless after a long period of silence I was beginning to fade off.

"Sakura?" His voice seemed to come out of nowhere, bringing me back to reality.

"Yes? Is something wrong?" I knew he was in pain obviously.

"I'm so sorry…about your parents." A lump formed in my throat, only a few people knew about that. Kakashi must have told him the truth I had been hiding from everyone.

"It's not your fault." I lied, it was his fault. I don't know why I bothered lying he knew the truth.

"Yes, it is. Don't lie, Kakashi told me the truth. Why you cry in the shower every morning. How can you still love me, it's my fault your parents are dead." His words were serious, not meant to hurt. I knew he was just trying to understand, but his words seemed to cut like a knife.

"I don't know, when they were gone, you were all I could think about. I built up a hope that you would come back one day. I was being foolish." The words just seemed to pour out; I hadn't even noticed that the water had stopped running. He stood before me covered in a large towel.

"I've forgotten what love is…" He couldn't look me in the eyes. "I grew up hating everything, ever since what happened with my brother. I've let it consume me, but being here with you, even in just this last week…" I didn't let him finish, I knew what he was trying to say, and I hugged him

"It's ok; just give it time, I'll do whatever it takes for you." I didn't ever want to let him go. This was the type of thing I had been waiting to hear. He was able to change; this was all the proof I needed. I helped him to the room; my bedroom was still largely intact furniture wise. I let him get changed while I grabbed new sheets and blankets for the bed.

He was already passed out by the time I got back. It had only been a few minutes, still the amount of physical stress he had undergone would make just about anyone pass out like that. I threw the blankets over him, and climbed into the now made bed.

His body was still warm from the hot shower; it was nice to be up against. Sleep however was eluding me. The thought of Sasuke going through so much emotion had to be hard for him. He was so contained. It had to be hard for him to try and get his feelings out like he did before. It didn't make the pain of everything he had done go away, maybe that pain would never go away. Maybe it was like Naruto said, you just have to live with the pain, but find things that made you happy.

Sasuke had a lot of pain to deal with. The way his childhood turned out was not something that he could ever even hope to forget. It was the same for me and my parents; I would never be able to forget them. This was both our chance though to find something totally new. We would have to learn to do this for each other.

XXXXXXXX

I woke up, to the sounds of the village coming to life. It almost startled me as I had almost gotten used of the silence of the Uchiha complex. Sasuke was still passed out next to me; a faint smile was on his face as he slept. That was one of the few times I had ever even seen him smile. It was something I probably could see more if I ever managed to wake up before him. I stretched my arms out and kissed him on the cheek as I crawled out of bed, trying not to wake him.

Ino was sprawled out on the couch, I never knew why she always seemed to be sleeping there, she had a bed that was perfectly good. I ignored her and headed for the bathroom. I used the restroom before finally turning on the shower. It was the first time in a long time that I didn't feel the need to cry. It felt good to talk to someone about my problems, even briefly like that seemed to make a world of difference to me.

A sudden crash in the room made me nearly jump out of my skin. I poked me head around the curtain and was greeted by several bottles of various hair products scattered about and one Naruto pretending nothing just happened

"Oh my god cant you walk like everyone else? Now get out I'm naked in here." Honestly he had a knack for showing up at these kinds of moments. I was beginning to think he was doing it on purpose. I wasn't angry with him for attempting to spy on me, in a crazy distant way it was a little flattering.

He walked out the bathroom, in a hurry, not needing to be told this time what I would do to him if he didn't.

"So, is Sasuke here? I think I owe him an apology."

"No, I don't think you do." I turned the water off, and grabbed the remaining towel on the rack wrapping it around me. "Well maybe for throwing him through the wall of his home." I trailed on. I didn't care for the way Naruto handled the situation last night, but it definitely had some results and for that I couldn't complain too much

"That bad huh?"

"Yeah, that bad. You think you could get Yamato to take a look at it?

"Yeah that should be no problem. Is he even awake yet?"

"No, not yet, you should let him sleep, I wouldn't be surprised if he came and talked to you soon anyways." I might have to make him do that last part. They needed to clear the air though. Though in the past that hadn't ever really gone well.

"Well get him to stop by sometime. Oh, and by the way, the Jonin exams are coming up you both might be interesting in taking them. You'll need to find two more members to take it with you though, assuming Sasuke even wants to take it."

"Wait, I thought you were selected for Jonin?" I had never had the time to even consider moving up in rank, I was usually kept pretty busy, but I could foresee quite a bit of free time coming up

"Well you can be, but there's an exam you can take if you want to show your stuff. Instead of waiting to be noticed. Think about it, you still have about a month to decide." I heard the rush of air even through the door signaling he was gone

He was always so busy, now that he was the Hokage. I could tell that sometimes he wished he could take a day off though. It was a hard job, but he would never give up, it wasn't his way.

I walked back into the room, and opened my bag and pulled out the change of clothes I had folded into it. I pulled out one of the few regular bras' I owned, I didn't typically wear them, because they were impractical for the amount of moving I did. Still I was stuck with it for now. I hated the clasps on them. It was ridiculous that I could so flesh back together, but couldn't seem to hook two straps together.

I jumped when Sasuke touched my hand from behind, taking the ends out of my hands. I let him clasp them together.

"When did you get so proficient at this?" I spun around to face him. The bruise on his neck was still pretty bad, and from his posture I could tell he was still in quite a bit of pain. He might have been better by now if Naruto hadn't gotten out of control last night. I sighed, not giving him a chance to answer something he probably didn't want to anyways. "Go lay back down your still hurt."

"I'm fine."

"You're not fine, now go lay back down before I make you." He could tell by the look I was giving him that I was serious. "You don't have anything going on today to be up for anyways." I pushed him back towards the bed. He still protested slightly even as I pushed him down.

"Here let me look at this." I put my hand on his neck near the bruise that Naruto's hand left; I could still make out the imprints of his fingers. "You will have to deal with the bruise for a few days, but I should be able to get rid of the pain. I started to heal the muscles in his neck; luckily the damage wasn't as bad as it looked. I caught a glimpse of him staring at my exposed breasts.

"You're just as bad as Naruto aren't you?" I couldn't help but laugh. Catching Sasuke doing stuff and making him blush about it was becoming a sort of game to me.

"Why are you laughing, and I'm better than Naruto that's for sure." He dropped the ball there, and I wouldn't let it go.

"You're a better pervert than him?" I was still laughing, I hadn't laughed like this in a long time, there hadn't been very many good times lately. Still something about him being flustered amused me.

"I'm sorry; I'm just not used to seeing…those things hanging all over the place like that in my face." He had a small point I had in fact neglected to get properly dressed.

"Oh Sasuke you have such a long ways to go." I was still laughing and even as much as he was trying to hide it, there was still a slight smirk on his face too.

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><p><strong>Authors comment:<strong> Ah this chapter just seemed to write itself.


	9. New begginings

**Authors Note(s):** Ok, so I apparently have a nasty habit of switching perspectives. If you notice these things please, please let me know so I can go fix it. Some of this might be alleviated if I weren't pumping out chapters from Midnight when I get home from work to about five in the morning sometimes.

Also, in my latest poll, I have an idea for what my next story will be, and it will be written in a very similar fashion to this one, so check it out and vote.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto, nor am I profiting from this work of fan fiction, aside from the satisfaction I'm getting from the large amount of people reading it.

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><p>I couldn't help myself; despite the resistance my body was giving I started to laugh. I couldn't even remember the last time I laughed, not like this. A real laugh because something was funny. No one seemed to be able to pick up on my insecurities like Sakura seemed to be able to. It was strange to let myself go openly like this in front of someone. This was a feeling I hadn't experienced since my childhood.<p>

"Shh, you'll wake Ino up if you keep laughing that loud." She put her hand over my mouth; I tried my best to stop.

"You already woke me up love birds." Her voice called through the door. Sakura sighed. "Just kidding it was Naruto when he came through here earlier."

"She's not a morning person like me." She pulled her hand off my mouth now that I had regained control over myself. "Well I'm going to go see Kakashi again today, and I have a shift to work today too." She started to get dressed; it was a good thing that I was covered in blankets still. I didn't know why that seemed to happen any time I saw her like that

"What about me?"

"Your still not one-hundred percent yet." She pulled her shirt over her head, finally obscuring the thought provoking bra from view. "So stay in bed or go watch TV in the living room, but no training or anything serious. Got it?"

I gave a scowl of disapproval at the thought of doing nothing for the whole day. She didn't give me a chance to even argue as she walked out the door.

"Keep an eye on him, will you?" I could hear Sakura talking to Ino from around the corner.

"Really?" Her voice sounded too excited.

"_Ugh, fan girls." _Was she really going to leave me to the mercy of this girl I barely knew for the whole day? I wasn't looking forward to it. The sound of the door opening and closing filled the house, followed shortly by footsteps headed in my direction.

"Hello?" The blonde headed girl poked her way into the room. "Hey, how you doing?" She was being unusually friendly, a trait I didn't care for in people.

"I've been better." My reply even surprised myself; a few weeks ago I would have just ignored her. Was I changing?

"Well, come on out of this stuffy room and I'll make you some breakfast." Food did sound appealing; the thought of her cooking scared me for some unexplainable reason. I went anyways, sitting on the couch in the living room.

"You don't like sweet foods right?" Did she seriously remember that from when we were kids?

"Right." I studied the room; it was particularly bright for my tastes. There were several paintings on the walls; I didn't really think either one of them painted. "Who did these paintings?" I was making small talk, if I had to listen to her talk all day it might as well be about something I want to talk about.

"Sai did those for us a while back Sai was the one who attempted to capture me. He was far more skilled than either Naruto or Sakura back then. Aren't they good?" I actually didn't care for the art, but the talent behind them was obviously apparent.

"Yeah" After that I listened to her cooking rice and something else in silence.

"Here you go." She sat down next to me handing me a bowl of rice, with okaka and diced tomatoes. "It's your favorite right? She watched me eat it with a smile on her face. I finished it quickly despite the soreness that still was lingering.

"So have ya'll done it yet?" I almost threw my breakfast up. A little tact would be nice before asking a question like that. She clearly didn't understand personal boundaries very well. "Oh you have, your face says it all."

"How do you know?" I was flustered that she had figured it out so easily

"Oh, I could be what you would call an expert on these matters." Was she trying to say she got around? I was sure she had men fawning over her all the time. "So what's the deal? You came back here for her?"

"In a manner of speaking." I wanted her to go away, but I knew she wouldn't. "I'm trying to revive my clan." As soon as I said that I knew I would regret it. Saying that was the worst thing I could have told her to try and end a conversation.

"_Damn, it's going to be a long day."_

XXXXXXX

"You're looking better." I smiled at Kakashi who was now up and staring out of his room's window.

"Yeah, hopefully I can leave soon. How are things with Sasuke progressing?" I somehow knew he would jump to that.

"I almost got him to pass out laughing this morning." I put his breakfast next to his bed. Whenever Kakashi was in the hospital I always had charge over him.

"Oh that's surprising to hear, what was he laughing at?"

"Well I was healing his neck, and I didn't have a shirt on…" My brain caught up with my mouth, Kakashi had turned around and was giving me a funny stare.

"You really are just a pervert aren't you?" He nodded in approval. He was so weird. "Anyways as it turns out he's not so comfortable around girls."

"And that made him laugh?"

"No he was staring at…them. So I called him a pervert like Naruto and he accidently agreed." The still fresh memory caused me to laugh a little at the end of my story.

"Maybe he can change after all."

"What makes you say that? I've noticed a big difference since he got here."

"You just spend more time with him than anyone else." He sighed. "Just don't try to make him change so fast, be patient with him and he should come around. Now run along I know you have other things to be doing than to talk with me." I frowned but he was right, I did have other patients to see too.

"I'll come see you again when my shift is up. Bye." I headed out the door as Kakashi returned to his window gazing. Knowing him there was some girl across the street he was watching. Why were all guys perverts?

XXXXXXX

The squeal that the girl let out only confirmed my mistake of saying that I was here to bring my clan back was a mistake.

"Tell me everything." She was staring at me uncomfortably.

"It's rather self-explanatory don't you think?" The look on her face told me it wasn't. I let out a heavy sigh. "She's going to have my kids, is that clear enough?"

"Is she already pregnant, she has been looking a little fatter lately? She was more annoying than Sakura. I was a little impressed by that.

"No, we've only…done it once…well almost twice." I corrected myself. She was never going to go away unless I told her everything. I figured it was best to just clear the air, before she found a way to make my life even more miserable than it currently was.

"Almost twice? How do you do it almost twice?" I sighed again. I only wished the answer wasn't so damn embarrassing she was going to burst out laughing, I just knew it.

"Naruto may have popped in on us…" I could see it forming on her lips, that slight smile that came before the storm. They finally came out. She sat there laughing trying to regain control over herself.

"Really? How many days ago was that?" she managed to spit out in between a bout of laughs.

"Just a few days ago."

"So just once in a week?" she had managed to calm herself down. "That's not very much; Choji and I do it way more than that."

"I didn't need to hear that."

"You're not very comfortable with this kind of stuff are you; you'd think with all the girls hanging around you. You would be more comfortable around them. You haven't even looked at me since we've been talking either."

"I'm fine." She was taking over, and she had the upper hand to begin with. I needed to find some way out of this. I could leave, but Sakura would never let me hear the end of it. Though, why I cared what she would say was eluding me. Ino however was determined not to let me think too much.

"We need to get you to loosen up." She started staring off into space. Why did Sakura leave me with this girl? She had to have known what would happen. _"She did this on purpose!"_ She left me with her because she knew how she would be. "Let's go shopping! I love shopping and I already know that Sakura picked out your wardrobe. That girl has no taste."

"I'm not supposed to leave." The perfect excuse to not have to do this, I felt perfectly fine to be up and about, but shopping was something I did not want to do.

"Not optional, and besides I'm doing this for your sake. You think Sakura will put up with that attitude forever? A girl doesn't want that. Now go get ready." I gave her a slight glare, which only made her eyes glare right back at me. Why did I ever put myself in this situation?

XXXXXXX

I walked in the door to see Kakashi pulling his mask up over his face "_damn I was this close."_ It was weird that I still hadn't seen his face; the rumor mill was that he was good looking underneath. I wonder why he always hid it. I had even asked Guy once and he hadn't seen it either. I sighed lightly, I was sure he knew why.

"Oh, how was your shift?" He was back in his bed, putting the tray from his dinner up.

"Oh, nothing particularly interesting today. Though I did have something on my mind that I wanted to ask you about."

"About Sasuke?"

"No actually. I was wondering about how you were made Jonin. Naruto said I should take the exams."

"Mmm. You probably will be better off trying to make Special Jonin, since you don't have any nature training."

"That's true." It was a rather large hole in my training. "He also said that Sasuke should take it as well."

"That's an interesting move for Naruto. He could just select him himself but I suppose the remaining elders won't approve, so he has to do it the hard way. I was appointed myself, so I'm afraid I don't know too much about the exams."

"He said I needed to have a four man squad for it, any suggestions?"

"Pick wisely?" he chuckled "I really don't know what you need to prepare for, so it's hard to say. I would just try to have as wide a skill set as possible, for whatever you may have to deal with. If you and Sasuke are on the same team you will want a sensor type, and a long range fighter, those would be the most helpful."

"Thanks." It was simple advice, but it was practical. "I have to check and make sure Sasuke isn't dead yet, I left him with Ino, to lighten him up a bit." We both laughed a bit. Ino wasn't on Kakashi's team, but he had worked with her in the past and knew her tendencies.

"If he can spend a day with her, I think he'll do just fine. Now you better go put him out of his misery already." I waved goodbye and headed back for Ino's. I could only imagine what hell she had been putting him through for the whole day.

XXXXXXX

"Why did you have to leave me with her? You knew what she was like." Sasuke was wearing a rather unpleasant face when I greeted him and Ino, who were both folding up several new pairs of clothes that were obviously meant for Sasuke.

"Hey, just when I thought we were starting to get along!" Ino interjected, cutting off the response I was going to make. That only brought up more questions however. I was surprised at some point during the day he didn't just ditch her in whatever store she somehow managed to drag him to.

"I see you two are getting along" Sasuke scowled, even though I knew I was right.

"He's fine once you get him talking." How did she get him talking? He barely talked to me all that much.

Sasuke left the room, taking several shirts with him, I didn't know exactly where he was going to put them, but I supposed it didn't matter really. I figured that he just didn't want to be in here anymore.

"So what did you guys talk about all day?" she laughed, never a good sign.

"Your sex life." She said it like it was no big deal.

"Ino! How could you make him talk about that all day?

"Oh, relax; we didn't talk about it _all_ day. It was just how I got things started. This whole clan revival thing is pretty interesting. I knew you had a thing for him, but you don't think jumping into this is a bit much?"

Truth be told, I was still a little apprehensive about the whole ordeal. I still wasn't ready for kids, I was still trying to reach the Sasuke I used to know, and Ino seemed to be making more progress than I was. I didn't care for the way we were "set up." Though maybe in this case the ends did justify the means.

"I'm not jumping into anything."

"Please, you guys jumped into things on like the second day." This was a prime example of Ino being annoyingly correct. Her social skills were comparable to Shikamaru's genius. There was just no hiding anything from her.

"So things moved a little fast? He kind of started it."

"Oh I already know the whole story." I didn't even want to know the kind of detail Sasuke may have leaked. I wondered if she cheated to get any of it, her clan did specialize in mind related techniques. Though I doubted also, If Sasuke would have just let her do that. "The big thing he's got going on right now is he's just not used to girls being so close. It's kind of cute really. He's definitely going to be quite the project."

"So what do I do then?" I hated to ask her for love advice, but she would know what to do.

"Just drop some hints until he starts to pick up on them. Instead of being instigator let him take charge, he will when he's ready.

"So you're advice is to just let him be?"

"For the most part, give him a nudge in the right direction every now and then, but other than that…"

"Oh, I hope your right." She more than likely was, my only concern was if I would be able to follow it.

XXXXXXX

Girls, more Ino than Sakura, were very annoying. Though Ino was right about one thing, my attitude about this was wrong, I needed to show Sakura that I loved her. It would still be a dangerous game to play; I knew that before coming here in the first place. How though, did you fake love someone without falling in love? Was it even possible for me to do this in the first place, without in some manner becoming attached to her? Maybe in the end I could possibly have her join my cause, she had promised it before.

She came into the room, which brought me back from my thinking. _"Ok, be nice."_ I forced a smile in her direction, it probably looked terrible.

"Oh" She laughed, wasn't what I thought she would do. "You don't have to force yourself. If you knew anything about Sai, you would understand why." I dropped my smile immediately. "I appreciate the thought though."

She started to change again, why did she have to do that with me in the room. She knew that I still wasn't used to it. She was doing this on purpose, but why could I not stop myself from looking? She had a small waist that I couldn't stop staring at. I just wanted to hold her there for some reason, like I wasn't even in control. Suigetsu was always on about big boobs or something to that extent, and while Sakura didn't have big ones I still couldn't help but be attracted to their size. She bent over to grab something out of her bag. My eyes drifted over her long legs, they were incredibly tone and longer than they looked at a glance. It was probably because of the way she tended to dress.

"You've been staring at me this whole time." She had been watching me apparently, I couldn't explain why I was ashamed over it, but when it came to seeing her like this I lost control over myself.

"Sorry I couldn't help it."

"Don't be" she climbed into the bed, still largely undressed and clicked off the light. Leaving me there still with a half folded shirt in my hands. This was one of the things that Ino had been talking about, one of her so called "signs"

"I'll be right back"

"Where are you going?" her voice sounded slightly upset that I might be leaving. Ino was right this was definitely an invitation.

"Don't worry I'm not even leaving the room." I went and found her bag searching it for the stupid thing. "I've got to get rid of this first." I held up the kunai in the dark even though she likely couldn't see it. I opened the window and threw it as far as I could then shut the window back behind me. She laughed slightly at the gesture.

"Knowing him that won't stop him."

"Well, if he knows what is good for him he wouldn't dare interrupt this time." I crawled into the bed, immediately pulling her close to me, placing my hand on her small waist. It was inexplicably intoxicating, the small curve of it. I lost track of time just running my hand up and down stopping every time I reached her underwear, just to return my hand back to its original position.

"Are you just going to keep teasing me like that? She grabbed my hand as soon as it reached my stopping point, forcing it further down. She let go right as I reached her, my fingers slipped into her easily. She moaned slightly as I pushed them in further. I continued to toy with her us she started to pull my pants down with her free hands. I assisted her attempt at removing them. She took me in her hand, it was the first time she had done so, or anyone for that matter. She was just feeling it looking me in the eyes the whole time. It was a questioning stare, almost asking me if it was ok. Finally she took the offensive. She clearly couldn't wait as long as I could. She climbed on top of me pinning me down, hands on my chest. She started to trace the outlines of my muscles with one finger. It tickled slightly, but god forbid I let that show.

Our places finally met as she lowered herself down. It was a tease, but it still felt incredibly good as she slid up and down my length.

"Now you're the one being cruel" I whispered softly to her. I would be damned if Ino walked in on this too.

"I get to be cruel" she smiled crookedly. I could see it even in the darkness of the room. She kept the motion going. I was begging to reach my limit.

"Sakura I…" She didn't stop, causing me to cum slightly on us both. Mostly on myself.

"We're not done yet I see." Pointing out the fact that I was still hard despite just cumming. Her teasing stopped as she grabbed me angling it inside of her. The familiar warmth and wetness of her wrapping around me assaulted my nerves. A loud moan escaped her lips.

"Shh she's going hear you if you're that loud" I scolded her only to be stopped by the pleasure of her grinding against me.

"Oh, she already knows." She whispered in my ear. I didn't have time to think about it as she found a spot she seemed to enjoy. Her tempo quickened which only caused me to once again reach my limit; all at once I came inside her. The sensation of me cumming inside her seemed to push her over the edge as well. She tightened around me. Her nails scratched down my chest painfully as she seemed to lose control over herself. She finally collapsed on top of me, panting to catch her breath.

"Wow." She sighed after managing to catch her breath. "That was my first time ever…you know." It seemed that she wasn't as confident with herself as she showed. "Can you put me on the bed, I can't seem to get my legs to work." I let out a laugh at that as I rolled her next to me.

"That good huh?" Even though she did all the work I couldn't help but feeling oddly satisfied with myself. Sex was strange like that.

"Yeah." She sighed catching more of her breath. "That good." She kissed me goodnight before pulling herself into my chest. I stared at the ceiling until she fell asleep, until I too, drifted off.

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><p><strong>Authors notes:<strong> this is the longest chapter so far, a lot of dialog, and as you know a lemon. well, expect another update in the next day or two like normal. Questions, comments, concerns. **Review, or leave me a PM**


	10. A forewarning?

**Authors note(s):** Not so much a note as a question. That question is: Do any guys read my story? Seriously, I feel like I have a target audience now.

**Disclaimer: **Here, let me check and see if I own Naruto….nope.

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><p>I woke up to the smells of Ino making breakfast. Which I always enjoyed waking up to, it meant that I didn't need to go eat out again for breakfast. Unlike Naruto who ate ramen three meals a day, medically speaking he had to be eating something else every now and then.<p>

The sounds of water running in the next room were disappointing as it interrupted my normal routine. I stumbled into the living room, which was odd I was usually so lively in the morning; it probably was because of last night. A few flash backs started to hit me but were swiftly interrupted by not Ino, but Sasuke cooking in the kitchen.

"What the…?" I had fallen into some twisted parallel universe where Sasuke cooked meals and other domestic things. He looked up at me confused.

"What? I can't cook something to eat? Ino said it was alright if I did."

"I'm just surprised you even know how, it's so…not you." He gave me a slight scowl; there was the Sasuke I knew.

"Here I made you some." It was something simple; Ino would call it guy food. With a side of a sliced tomato, he had a sick obsession with these things. I was also beginning to wonder where he got these things from. I supposed it was possible he went and bought them. _"But it's more likely he has a summoning contract for them." _I laughed out loud at the thought of it as Sasuke sat next to me.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh." I was still laughing a little. "It's nothing." I stopped chuckling to myself and started to eat what he had made. It was surprisingly not bad. He looked at me like I was crazy before finally starting in on his own meal.

The silence in the room was only made worse by the sound of the water in the bathroom shutting off. I needed something to break the silence with.

"So, do you want to take the Jonin exams? I'm trying to put together a team for it." It was the first thing that came to his mind. It was actually one of the more relevant things I had going on right now.

"Not really, no." I somehow wasn't surprised at his answer.

"Why not?" I asked even though I already knew the answer.

"No point. I shouldn't even have to take it. They should just make me one, why should I take some stupid exam." This was old Sasuke, but even though he was being a little rude about it I could see his point. His skills were at the Kage level.

"Well I'm going to take it with or without you." His attitude about it and the fact that he turned me down wasn't really making me very happy.

"Fine." He cut off my approaching storm. "I'll take it with you to make sure nothing happens. Ok?"

I was at a loss of words. _"This has to mean he cares right?"_

"Thank you. We still need two more people though, for our squad. Kakashi said we should find a sensor and a long range fighter, any ideas?"

"Well what about that Neji guy? He would be the best sensor I could think of."

"No, he's been a Jonin for a long time."

"Then that Hyūga girl. Or Kiba, was that his name, the ones from a few days ago?"

"I guess either one would be fine I can ask them both when I can find them."

"What about a long range fighter? That Shino guy would be good, He's more _all range_ if anything. Is he a Jonin yet?

"Actually I don't think he is. You want to go ask him? It will get you out of the house and away from Ino."

"Hey!" Ino shouted at me from the bathroom. Though, I clearly didn't have to ask Sasuke twice, seeing as he was already putting his dish in the sink.

"I'll see you later then." I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before he left out the door.

XXXXXXX

Another day with Ino was not something I could do two days in a row, or ever again for that matter. The girl had a strange power of conversation and she knew it. Though now I had to go find someone who I didn't even know. The best way to accomplish that would be to find someone who did. Come to think of it everyone we were looking for was once on team eight. If I could find one of them I could potentially recruit everyone we needed at once.

The Hyūga girl and the dog guy were the most recognizable. I figured it would be best to try and find one of them. Though this village was large, and it would be no small task. My mind drifted to last night as I went across the rooftops. The sex was amazing, but I couldn't help but think that I was already starting to get caught up in the romance of it. After all the only reason I was even out here, looking for these people was for her. On some level I just didn't want something to happen to the girl who was supposed to bear my children. Or was it that I didn't want anything to happen to her because I cared. The lines were being blurred more and more each day.

I finally had a stroke of luck. It was the girl. She jumped in surprise to my sudden arrival. Maybe she wasn't the sensor we should be looking for.

"Oh, Sasuke, you startled me." she was unnervingly polite in the way she spoke. "Did you need something?"

I paused; I had recruited members for a team before, so why did it seem so difficult to ask now?

"Sakura wants to know if any of your team, just two of you actually; would be interested in taking the Jonin exams with us." I diverted the attention away from myself. This was Sakura's idea anyways.

"Umm, I could ask the other's if they are interested. Would that be ok?"

"That would be fine actually, bye." I left her there as quickly as I came. I didn't really feel like hanging around. Still that made quick work of what I originally thought would take hours. I watched Hinata from the top of the roof I was on. She finished her shopping at the small stand I had found her at. She was my first pick when I told Naruto of my intentions to return and revive my clan. I knew now that it wouldn't have worked out between us, she wouldn't be able to put up with me like Sakura and Ino were able to. I was right to choose her after all.

Naruto must have started to pay a little attention to her however; everyone knew she was into him back then. Still, I was surprised that they weren't going out, openly at least. Despite everything I ended up returning back to the apartment. I entered as quietly as possible wanting to avoid any possible confrontations.

"There's no point trying to sneak in, I can sense you from like a kilometer away." She was in the kitchen. The "kilometer away" was an exaggeration judging by the tone she said it in, but in some form she had some sensor ability. That would be troublesome if she was around when I eventually made my move. Konoha had many sensory types and I was sure that there were some tailing me at all times. When I eventually did attack I would have to move fast. That however was still a long time away.

"Sorry." It wasn't a sincere apology, not that the situation required one.

"So, sit relax some, you're always so tense looking." I closed the door behind me, and then proceeded to sit next to her. I had a fleeting suspicion that even if I went to our room she would have followed me.

"So last night went well huh?" Was sex all this girl thought about, because that was all she ever seemed to want to talk to me about? Though in the end I knew it was just to get me talking to her.

"Hn." It wasn't even a real response but I didn't think it mattered what I said at this point "listening in on us?"

"I wasn't listening on purpose, besides it was mostly just Sakura making all the noise." she laughed "But you threw in a few noises to here and there." That last part was news to me; I certainly didn't remember making any such noises. Not like the moans that Sakura seemed to make.

"I don't think so."

"You were, trust me. That's a sound that I know very, very well" she had an oddly satisfactory look on her face. I didn't want to know, but sadly I did know why it was there.

"I don't remember doing any such thing."

"That's a good sign then. So, did you find the people you were looking for?"

"I found Hinata, and asked her to see if the others were interested. Though, I don't really want to do this."

"Why not, you'll get to go on missions that are more your caliber?" She talked like most people played chess, several steps ahead to gain the conversational outcome she desired.

"Because, I don't think I should even have to and if I didn't want to watch out for Sakura I wouldn't be doing it at all." She had let my emotions get to me to get me to say something that under normal circumstances I would never have openly admitted.

"Ah, so you do actually like her after all." I could feel the blood rushing to my face. Did that mean it was true, that just in a matter of days I was developing feelings? Even to a small extent. Or was it just physical? "Well?" She wasn't going to give me time to think it over

"I don't know how to tell." I gave her the first answer that came to mind.

"Have you never liked a girl before?" I gave her a blank stare in the eyes. That was all the reply I needed to give. "Oh. Well I can tell you that you clearly have some form of feelings for her, give it some more time, you'll come around to see it."

"How do you know?"

"I told you once, I'm an expert on these types of things."

"So what do I do then?" A smile came to her face.

"Well…"

XXXXXXX

"Are you sure you're ready to leave the hospital already?" Kakashi was already ready to go.

"You know good and well I don't like hospitals, plus I'm feeling much better, and I would rather rest at home." He motioned for me to follow him out. We walked down the hallways in silence, I could tell he wasn't completely better, but he could go if he wanted. I signed his discharge papers.

"Want me to walk you home?" Typically something a guy would ask a girl, but I was killing time.

"I suppose that's fine. Is something on your mind?" He pulled out one of his books as we walked down the streets. It was an older one, I could only imagine how many times he had read it.

"Well, I _love_ Sasuke, but I just don't think I'm ready for kids. I know that's the real reason he's here. I just feel secondary to his plans sometimes." Kakashi was someone that I could always talk to and know that he wouldn't tell other people about it. He was a very private person, even amongst his friends.

"Assuming that he truly is here for what he claims. Then you should just give him time to come around. He had a particularly rough childhood as you know, and he doesn't trust people easily." He sighed. "As for the kids part, you are young, but no one could make a better mom than you, for those kids. I just worry about him."

"How come?"

"Some say the Uchiha clan is a cursed clan so to say. In the past they have always been a violence filled clan. Though in some way I guess now we have a chance to alleviate that past and start over. In many ways, they are a great addition to this village in terms of strength. They were a proud clan though."

"You say that they were proud like it's a bad thing. There's nothing wrong with a little pride in yourself or your clan."

"Yes, that's true, but pride can easily turn into arrogance."

"I guess so…"

"But you can change all that, if you raise any kids you may have with your love and kindness." Kakashi was just flattering me at this point, I knew good and well that I could have a bit of a temper.

"Well, thank you for the walk home." I could see the smile through his thin mask.

"You think one day I can ever see you with the mask off?" I realized I had never bothered to just ask. We were always trying to sneak see his face.

"Tell you what…maybe, though you probably wouldn't even recognize me even if you did." He chuckled. "You know I think you're the first person to just ask."

I laughed and waved goodbye as he headed inside. I turned around and almost ran smack into something large and white.

"Kiba don't park Akamaru right behind me like that!" The temper I knew I had was starting to flare.

"You don't park dogs….Anyways, I heard you and Sasuke are taking the Jonin exams, count me in. I convinced Hinata to join in as well, since Shino is on a mission."

"Did she not want to?"

"Eh, you know how timid that girl can be. Don't worry though, she's strong."

"Well good then, we'll all have to get together than for a while to prepare." Akamaru gave a loud bark to Kiba.

"Oh, fine! Akamaru's hungry."

"That's fine. I was just about to be on my way home. I'll see you both soon then, get a hold of me tomorrow and we can make some arrangements."

"Sounds good. Let's go Akamaru." It always amused me that he rode the dog, considering that the dog used to ride on him.

XXXXXXX

The now familiar click of the door opening was an incredibly welcome sound. I needed someone else to talk to. Ino had spent the afternoon instructed me on how to be a better boyfriend. I just came to the conclusion that it was things she wished Choji did for her.

"You two have fun together?" Sakura was smirking, she already knew what Ino did the whole day, it was the same thing she did to me yesterday, but without the hours of shopping that I was practically forced to do. Not that either one could actually force me, I just had to keep up appearances.

"I found the people you wanted me to find." It was a terrible change in subject, but it would work.

"I know already, Kiba, and Hinata are going to be our other two." A sensor and a tracking expert, which still left a rather large chunk in our overall formation, though if it came down to some sort of fight there was next to no way we could lose.

"Sakura, you know to make Jonin, I heard you need to be able to make at least two nature changes in your chakra." Ino cut in. I had never seen Sakura perform any kind of nature change, or shape change. She just punched things violently. At least she was able to put all that pent up anger to use.

"I don't even know what type I am." She was at least aware of the problem. Still you would think that Kakashi, or even Tsunade would have taught her something. Then Ino's words oddly caught up with me. This was an opportunity for me to get closer.

"I can help you learn nature training." I cut in on the conversation the two were starting. "First we need to find out what your nature is."

"When do we start? We have less than a month before the exams."

"We start right now, Ino, you wouldn't happen to have any chakra paper?

"No, but I do know where to get some."

"Could you?"

"I guess I can, I'll be back as soon as possible." She rushed out the door. That was easy enough, now I just had to hope Sakura had an affinity for one of the natures I was familiar with. Lightning or fire, if she wasn't I may have to find her another teacher.

"So what did, you do today?" Sakura looked shocked that I even bothered to ask. I was just following Ino's advice on how to start a conversation.

"Well, aside from my hospital shift, I walked Kakashi home, and then talked to Kiba for a bit." She surprisingly jumped right in. I didn't particularly care about what she did for the day, but I could tell that she was pleased that I bothered to ask.

Ino burst back in through the door.

"That was fast, where did you get it from?"

"We sell it to ninja's down at our store, here take one." She handed the small strip of paper to Sakura.

"Just run your chakra through it." A moment later the paper crinkled up.

"What does that mean?" She asked me with a particularly curious look on her face.

"It means, I am going to teach you lightning elemental transformations." She had the same elemental affinity as I did. That was going to make this process much easier. "We, should get started."

"To the training grounds then?"

"Yeah, that will work." We would some open space, and things to destroy. I hoped she was as up for it as I was, I had never taught anyone before.

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><p><strong>Authors Note:<strong> Well, two things really. First off there's surprisingly little information pertaining to the Jonin exams or selection process, though there has been word of both. So I played on that. Second, since Sakura has no known elemental affinity I get to make one up…cause it's my story…

Also on a side note: kind of a random random request if anyone thinks theyre up for it, i could use a little bit of a lemon written from a girls perspective, i refuse to do it even though im more than capable. Because you just cant beat first hand experience. Send me a PM if you want to give it a whack, if i like it ill use it plus give credit where credit is due..ok then


	11. A change in nature

**Authors Notes: **I forgot to mention this at the end of my last chapter, but wow people, over 4000 hits and almost 1200 viewers. That was just for the first week of June. Again thanks to my many readers…and lol I just realized a rather big flaw in my story about Sasuke. 10 points to whoever can guess it. A hint, it's not about his personality, more along the lines of something he carries around.

**Disclaimer time! -** I don't own Naruto! That was my excited disclaimer…

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><p>"This should be pretty easy; I've always had great control." Sasuke walked silently behind me, I glanced back to see an odd smile on his face.<p>

"This isn't going to be simple, like running up trees. You're not going to get it in on your first try." I knew he was probably right, and I couldn't _cheat_ like Naruto did. He technically wasn't cheating; it was a rather interesting process really.

"So, are you going to teach me chidori or something like that?" I hadn't thought of what he was going to teach to me yet.

"No, it's a high speed assassination jutsu; not exactly something that suits you. You don't have the eyes to keep up with it, even if I did teach it to you." He didn't have to be so rude about it. "Actually you've seen what I'm going to teach you."

"Really?" He had my curiosity now.

"It's the perfect one for you, the chidori current." The name was empty to me.

"You have to release the technique from all around your body utilizing the shape and nature transformation. It's an instant defense technique."

"It sounds difficult." Did he really think that I could master that in a month?

"It was one of the first of my own original ninjutsu." This conversation was one of the first where I felt like Sasuke was really opening up, I wished it was a nicer subject, but I couldn't complain too much. He was talking like a real person. Maybe I just needed to meet him in the middle and talk to him about things he was interested in.

"So where do I even start?

"You need to learn basic nature manipulation before moving to the shape part of it. Here are the signs. There were only three, that part was simple enough I practiced them a few times. "Good, now after that focus the chakra in your hands, envision that it's vibrating. Positive charges against negative ones. Use that friction and separate the two until they want to connect making a spark

I focused, repeating the seals for real, and focused the chakra in my hand. Trying to make the spark that he was talking about. _"Positive and negative, vibrate them together…then separate."_

A small pop stung the air as a stinging sensation flew up my arm.

"Damnit!" Things usually came so natural to me. Why couldn't this be one of those things?

"I told you that you wouldn't get it on your first try don't get upset so quick. That was a good first try though, but you're being hesitant, nor, are you using enough chakra. Lightning release techniques use more chakra than the other elements. Don't be afraid to go big." I noticed his sharingan was activated, he was completely analyzing what I was doing down to the smallest detail. "Try again."

I followed his instructions, more chakra, and more power into it.

"Your still holding back, more!" I jumped the level up to what I would use in battle to destroy a small building. "Good. Now increase the friction between the two charges." I could feel the surge starting to form in my hand; it was much stronger than the last time. "Now, in front of you push one of those charges out and try and hold it there." It was hard to imagine let alone do on the fly, but I apparently seemed to manage as a blue glow was now reaching my eyes. It wasn't a true chidori, but it was a start. I let the technique fade.

"How was that?" I was panting, I wasn't used to using chakra like this, and it was tougher on me than my medical ninjutsu.

"It was…better. You're not making enough friction still otherwise you're close. Now, again." He wasn't going to let up until I collapsed from exhaustion. We had barely even gotten started it seemed and already I felt down and out. Still I had another try in me.

Once again I forced massive amounts of chakra to my hands. Focusing on friction. "_Friction"_ My mind drifted to a different kind of friction. The thought of Sasuke's body rubbing against mine flew into my mind.

"Good now separate!" His voice brought me back from a daydream gone wrong. Still whatever that was worked. The loud chirping sound that was filling the air was originating from my own hand. Still I wasn't expecting the pain; it felt like being stabbed by several needles all over. Was it always like this?

"That hurts." I released the chidori. "I thought you weren't going to teach me that." I was trying to catch my breath. I didn't think I could try it again even if I wanted to.

"If it hurts you still don't have it perfect, and that really isn't practical for you, once you master that we can work on the shape portion, which is by far many times more difficult. "It's slow training though as you can tell, you can only use it a few times."

"So what about tomorrow are we going to try the shape part?"

"No, you don't have this perfect yet. You would hurt yourself if you tried the chidori stream. Now come on, I'll take you home." It was at that moment I realized how hard I was trying just to stay standing. I had nearly used all my chakra.

"Here I'll carry you." It was an unexpected gesture.

"No, I'm too heavy." He scoffed at me before forcibly picking me up. He didn't seem to strain at all when he lifted me. I was glad that it wasn't far back to Ino's. This would be very embarrassing to be seen like this. Overall though, it was nice. Nice just seemed to be the best way to describe it.

XXXXXXX

He didn't bother to put me down even when we got back. Instead he carried me straight to the bathroom. He finally put me down sitting on the toilette, and then ran some hot water, turning on the shower. He let out a small noise of annoyance when some of the water hit him in the face. I laughed a little which only cause him to look at me with raised eyebrows.

"It's not funny." I was going to have to work on his sense of humor; I knew it was in there somewhere. I had seen it a few times. "Well the waters ready." He started on his way out; I grabbed his shirt, even though my arms felt like they had weights hanging off them.

"I might need your help." I wouldn't have asked if it was true, being in a towel or even barely clothed was better than being completely exposed to someone. I didn't like the idea of him just seeing me naked under a non sexual pretext. Though I didn't have much of a choice, I doubted I could even get into the shower.

He didn't give me a response, he seemed to understand. It occurred to me that at one point he must have been the exhausted one. Only he didn't have any help. Still he helped me, picking up my arms and holding them up with one hand, while tugging my shirt off awkwardly with the other. He pulled my pants off with great care, it seemed like he was trying not to move me. He made me stand up after that. I could feel my legs shaking. He went behind me, unclasping my bra; I let the straps fall down my arms, causing the bra to fall to the floor. I covered myself with my arms even though they protested. Finally I felt him tugging my panties off until they to fell to the floor. A pair of cool hands lifted me from below my shoulders. His fingers barely touching the sides of my breasts. He finally sat me down in the shower letting the hot water run over me from above.

I was a little turned on by the whole ordeal, though I doubted he knew that, it was the second time recently that my mind was drifting towards sex. It was never an issue before I had actually had it. I felt like I wanted it now, more than I ever had before.

XXXXXXX

I envied Sakura, how many weeks had it taken me to progress to where she got in three tries? I was young then, but her progress was nothing short of amazing. Still at the moment I was glad that she didn't notice how turned on I had just gotten.

She would have the chidori nearly perfected in a matter of days, and until then I couldn't afford to be wearing her down with unneeded physical activities. She would understand, and besides, she would be too tired to do anything like that.

I didn't doubt though, with her control she would surpass my own ability with the chidori stream, but not with the regular chidori. She would never be able to use it effectively in a fight. It was too costly, linear, and without the sharingan, very difficult to aim. As for the sharingan, though she would soon bear the Uchiha name, she would not acquire the clan's eyes, even though it was a possibility.

Still, now that I was training her, it only affirmed my reasons to leave in the first place. Konoha was holding her back. Nature training was something she should have, and could have learned years ago, especially with her talent. This training however was a double edged sword. In the end, if she were to remain on my side, she would be a great ally. If she remained loyal to Naruto, she would be more of an enemy than ever.

XXXXXXX

"Sasuke, the water's getting cold." He had been silent the whole time. I peeked through the curtain; he looked like he had been doing some serious thinking. He stopped the water much to my relief, I absolutely hated cold water. He opened up the shower curtain and briefly glanced me over.

I grabbed his hand as he extended it towards me, and stood up thanks to his help. I doubted I would have been able to get myself out, despite the fact I was feeling slightly better. He wrapped me in a towel as soon as he had me out. I laughed as he poked his head out of the bathroom, presumably checking for any sign that Ino was here.

Once he was sure she wasn't he pulled me into the bedroom just across the hallway. My feet dragged in protest. I sat down on the bed as he pulled a few articles of clothing out of my bag. The sight of him holding a pair of my panties was comical but I held it in.

"Here" He handed the clothes he had grabbed to me. He turned around while I slowly got dressed, even when I peeked in his direction he wasn't looking. I was oddly disappointed that he wasn't. I finished getting dressed and collapsed into the bed. The sun was just beginning to set and the natural light in the room was slowly beginning to fade.

I woke up to Sasuke poking me in the arm, a bowl of soup in his other hand. Was I that tired? I usually didn't fall asleep so early. The soup smelled good though. He handed me the warm bowl.

"Thanks, how long was I asleep?"

"Nearly an hour." I was surprised after my first bite that Sasuke was capable of making more than just guy food. It was actually pretty good.

"Mmm." The soup was still delicious. "Is Ino back yet?"

"No, I found a note she left. She'll be out the whole night." That meant that she was over at Choji's again. I wondered why she never seemed to bring him over here. At least when I was around she never had.

"Oh." I finished the rest of my soup in silence; Sasuke just sat and watched me eating. It was weird to have him just watch me eat. "It was really good, thank you." I handed the empty bowl to him. A strange look appeared on his face, I think he just didn't know how to take a compliment. He left the room to place the bowl in the sink. I relaxed back into the warm covers of the bed. Sasuke clicked off the light when he came back into the room.

"You should get back to sleep; you'll need to be rested again tomorrow." He put a arm around me and pulled me into him. His warmth was comforting, and in my half awake state I quickly found myself dozing off.

XXXXXXX

The strange dream I was having instantly faded away as the morning light begun to shine through the window. I groaned as I heard that Sasuke was already up and about. I felt immensely better, now that my chakra was largely replenished.

I forced my way out of bed, changing into something practical for the training I was going to be doing. We stopped for some breakfast at a small stand, before heading to the training grounds again

"Now remember, you only have about two to three tries to get it right, so make them count." He activated his sharingan again and watched as I repeated what I had learned yesterday. "Good, but slightly less power, that's what is causing the pain in your hand."

I focused on reducing the power, but it seemed to make the sparks nearly disappear.

"Keep trying to push the charges away from each other, add to the range." The sound the jutsu was making nearly mimicked the sound when Sasuke did it.

"Good you nearly have it now, you just need more practice." He sighed. "It took me nearly two weeks of Kakashi hammering me down to get that far. Now watch carefully, this is what you're going to be doing.

He didn't use any signs; electricity just seemed to flow in nearly random directions all around him. I recognized it now he used it against, Naruto and Sai when we first found him. It dropped the two to the ground where they stood. It even stunned them for several moments afterwards. It was beautiful just to watch, steady arcs of blue electricity flowing around him.

"Envision a sphere around you, and then release the charge on the borders of that sphere wherever you need them to be. It's dangerous though, you don't want to be hit by your own technique so make sure the sphere is large enough, but before you can do that you need to be able to draw out the lightning element more proficiently. So keep practicing what you've been doing." He released his technique.

I spent the next few tries that I had trying to perfect it, but I just couldn't seem to get it up to Sasuke's standards. Was it that he just had more practice than me? I felt like I hit a wall, and it had only been two days.

"Don't get so discouraged already, this is an A rank jutsu. The chidori stream is an S rank. I told you that you wouldn't get it right away. Even if you are incredibly talented." He somehow managed to turn what sounded like an insult to me into a compliment.

"Let's get you home then." I actually didn't feel quite as bad as yesterday, but Sasuke still insisted that he carry me there, I thought it was sweet, though unnecessary. I could have managed to walk back own my own two feet. I didn't protest though. It was a different side of Sasuke, a nice and caring side that he seemed to be slowly finding, or forcing. I hoped it wasn't Ino who put him up to all of this. She was the type of person to put her nose in business that wasn't hers.

"Yo!" The greeting was so familiar I didn't even need to hear his voice to know it was Kakashi. "Can I have a word with you Sasuke? He was sitting on the roof of the apartment.

I could feel Sasuke's body tense up ever so slightly. He put me down.

"She doesn't have to go. Anyways Sasuke, I was wondering why you think that it's ok to teach her that jutsu?"

"Keeling tabs on me?" I could feel the tension between the two starting to fill the air.

"Not on you, on her." He motioned to me. "She won't be able to use the chidori, you should know that better than anyone." Kakashi had an unusually stern look on his face. I looked at Sasuke. His face said it all, he clearly didn't like being lectured by Kakashi.

"The chidori is the basis for what I'm teaching her, it's just to get her used to the elemental training. Besides, wasn't it you who said that it was a blade to protect those close to you? He walked into the house, leaving both me and Kakashi there in silence.

"_Does he have feelings for me?"_

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><p><strong>Authors notes:<strong> Again i had to make up a lot of information for this chapter due to its non-existence. So drop a review bout what you think, and expect the next chapter within 36 hours


	12. The Start of Something

**Authors notes:** Well my fellow Kansans (odds are there's a few of you) today, June 10, 2011 we got rocked by some crazy storms, fun day.

On a side note, I find the lack of reviews disturbing. You know who you are.

**Disclaimer: **I'm too tired to think of anything witty, so I'll just say that I don't own Naruto

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><p>"What did he mean by that? I stared inquisitively at Kakashi. Whatever Sasuke had just said Kakashi had first said it to him.<p>

"I think he wants to protect you, for…whatever reason he has." A typical broad answer from Kakashi, it was amazing to think that sometimes he could give good advice.

It occurred to me that this was more than nature training to him. He didn't want me hurt and he was teaching me the best defensive ninjutsu he thought I could learn. At least on the face of it, it seemed that way.

I had to find out what he really meant by that. I doubted if he would tell me directly. He probably still wasn't ready to flat out admit he cared. That was probably just slip of sorts. I sighed before saying my farewells to Kakashi. I took a deep breath before heading inside.

He was watching the TV when I came in. I knew it was just something to take his mind off what he was actually thinking. ? He looked like he was upset, as far as I could tell; he always looked a little annoyed.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"I don't know, it's Kakashi." That didn't surprise me.

"Well, what about him."

"I don't like the way he thinks he's still in charge of me. Or the way he thinks he can still lecture me like I'm some kind of child."

"He wasn't trying to lecture you, he was just a little curious, that's all. He cares for you too."

"Why? Why should he care for me? I've spent the last few years trying to kill him. He doesn't trust me." This was quickly becoming a wakeup call. It was also a chance to clear the air.

"Give him and yourself some time."

"You say it like it's that easy."

"When was the last time you even gave anyone a chance?" His pessimism was starting to get on my nerves. "Do you even care about me at all?" It shouldn't have asked that, I knew that he wasn't ready to answer that yet.

He just stared away in silence. Most people would have been upset that he didn't answer right away. I didn't want to drive him further away, not now.

"I don't know I haven't let myself be close to anyone in a long time. I've just forgotten how to feel things like that anymore." I felt sorry for him. I had lost my parents, and knew the pain of that loss. He had lost his family, emotions, or even how to be in touch with himself. I could only imagine everything he was suppressing, his anger mostly, but just being here had to be difficult and he didn't need to be pushed like this, least of all by me.

"Every person who has ever been important to me has died." I noticed a tear rolling down his cheek. I had never seen Sasuke cry. I had a hard time even picturing him crying. He was always so composed. It was something I admired, that he was able to shoulder everything he had to deal with, and not let the world know about it.

When bad things happened I couldn't keep my feelings in like he could. Sasuke had been the source of many of my tears. Though I could never give up on him, or stop loving him, even to the point of where I attempted to kill him. We had a seriously messed up relationship. Though the more I thought about it we weren't technically a couple. We were just together in the same place.

"You couldn't protect them then, now you have the ability to not let anything happen to anyone. No one can stop you, not with your ability." I sat down next to him, mostly because I wanted to be near him, but partly because I was still exhausted from the afternoons training. I pulled him into me. "You can protect me."

XXXXXXX

This situation was embarrassing, Sakura, pulling me in to her to comfort me. It reminded me of when my mother used to, when I was a child. It wasn't helping my emotions, I hated them. They just get in the way of things. Why did everyone think I needed to embrace them?

My reply to Kakashi wasn't meant to affirm my own feelings, it just slipped from my mouth. Things were starting to come back to me. Various events of the past involving Sakura were just coming to me. I did care for her, I had just never shown it outright, and I had always been pushing her away. Even when deep down, I just wanted her to be close.

Had I been ignoring my feelings then? Just making slips here and there? She was the only one I had never tried to kill, when they first found me I just dodged her attacks, when I could have easily beaten her down like I did the others. On the hospital rooftop with Naruto, I couldn't stop myself, I had never felt the need to before. I had been protecting her all that time. Even now I was teaching her the best defensive ninjutsu she could possibly hope to learn from me.

The list seemed to carry on. Even the cursed seal, during the Chuunin exams, I couldn't control it at first, but somehow, just her embraced alleviated the effects, I even thought of her to remove its effect in my fight in the preliminaries. Even during the finals, I told Naruto to save her and run.

The biggest one that occurred to me was the last time I saw her in the village before defecting. Maybe I realized it then, I couldn't remember why I said it, but looking back that thank you was my acknowledgement of my thanks and my feelings. I was always calling her annoying, but never weak, or stupid like I called Naruto. I defended her then, and I would continue now.

"I…" It was an amazingly difficult thing to say, but I had breached a point of no return, I think she could hear it in my voice. "Won't ever let anyone hurt you." I collected myself and looked her in the eyes. She had a blank expression on her face, like she didn't know what was happening. "I couldn't love you then, but you were still important to me, I realize that now…" I almost felt ashamed of everything I had done to the girl I cared for. I had put her through hell for the sake of my revenge.

Kakashi was right as well, my revenge had never fulfilled my desires. All three of them, had always treated me like the family that was robbed from me, not by the elders of Konoha, or my brother. They were robbed by my own families, ideals and war mongering. This is what Itachi wanted for me, a chance to change our clans' reputation into something pure and respectable.

I owed her the truth. Even the one I had been lying to myself about.

"I love you."

XXXXXXX

My heart felt like it had stopped beating. This was actually happening. The look on his face was not a lie, I knew what lying looked like. I couldn't stop staring at his dark onyx eyes, for any sign that what he was saying was just something trying to make me feel better.

My mouth was moving but words didn't seem to come out, all I could do was nod. I had envisioned him saying that to me so many times when I was younger. He already knew that I loved him, I had confessed to him so many times. I did everything I could think of to gain his approval all to no avail.

Something he said before his confession occurred to me.

"How long have you…loved me?" I knew it must have been for a while, just from the way he said it.

"I don't know…maybe since our first big mission. I was just on a quest for power then, you know why I pushed you away, and told you that you were annoying." That word had haunted me ever since he left. "But I had always been protecting you, even when it when you came between me and my search for power."

It was amazing how I hadn't seen that in the person I obsessed about until now. His way of showing it was just different.

"Oh, that was so cute!" Why did the world not seem to understand the concept of a personal moment? It was like a cruel god was just up there making things miserable for any type of special moment between the two of us.

"Seriously Ino? How long have you been here?" Neither me or Sasuke had noticed her presence, she had learned to mask her chakra well, but that was no excuse for spying on us.

There was a sudden knock on the door.

"Oh what fresh hell is this?" Sasuke muttered, and for once I had to agree with his sudden bad attitude.

Ino went to answer the door but I had a fleeting suspicion of who it was. She opened it, and I was proved right.

"You just missed it Naruto, Sasuke confessed to Sakura! It was so cute." Naruto poked his head around the corner, staring at the two of us on the couch.

"Are you sure you don't have that backwards?" he looked back at Ino with a stupid confused look on his face.

"Of course not, I heard the whole thing." Did they not realize that we were right here? The look at Sasuke's face told me he had to be thinking about the same thing.

"Let's get out of here…" Sasuke's breath hit my ear as he whispered to me. We got up slowly leaving the two gabbing about the recent event. Knowing those two they would be at it for a while before they noticed that we were gone.

We slipped out the back door. Sasuke took my hand, it shocked me at first it was usually something that I did.

"Where are we going?" Despite the mornings training I was eager to go wherever he wanted to take me.

"Just for a walk, wherever will get us away from those two." He seemed to forget that if Naruto wanted to find us it would be very simple for him. I was certain he knew we were gone already, but wanted to hear the whole story from Ino before giving Sasuke a hard time about it.

The silence was awkward, I knew he had so much on his mind, he just didn't know how to say it. He couldn't be blunt with his feelings like some people could. Still it was like something had changed in him in the last few minutes. The air about him seemed…brighter. Not quite like the sensation Naruto gave off, but somewhere caught in the middle.

"You seem different all of a sudden." The change wasn't a bad thing. It was just a new side of Sasuke that hadn't seen the light of day since he was a child.

"Things are…clearer to me now. I just feel like I need to rethink my life and what I'm doing."

I let him be on his walk, I knew he took them a lot when he was younger. It was his thinking place, similar to why I took such long showers. I guessed everyone must have a place like that.

XXXXXXX

Naruto finally showed up, I had lost track of how long we had been walking, it couldn't have been too long, though Sakura's hand was occasionally falling behind here and there. I had forgotten that she was tired from the training. I remembered the exhaustion that came with dispensing all your chakra into a few practice tries of a jutsu like chidori.

"Not a word about me and Sakura." I didn't even give him the chance to talk. I knew he had to put his two cents into everything that wasn't his business. Especially when it came to me and her.

"I was just going to say…"

"Seriously if it's about me and her, I will hurt you." It was somewhat serious, I didn't think I could take any teasing right now, even from Naruto. Still Sakura squeezed my hand rather tightly when I said that. She had quite the grip.

"…That I got Yamato to fix the hole in your bedroom. Also, Hinata went ahead and filed your teams applications for the Jonin exams." I could see him trying to hold in what he really wanted to say. He couldn't take his eyes off mine and Sakura's hands. Sakura must have noticed this because her iron grip finally loosened.

"Oh that's good, thanks for telling us." Sakura took control of the situation. "You can go now." She raised her eyebrows at Naruto who for once seemed to catch a hint. I wondered how much training she had to put him through to get that reaction.

"I'll catch you guys later than." He started to walk away. I was glad that he was finally leaving. He had a way of truly agitating me. "Oh and have fun" he turned around and winked at us. Sakura's vice-like grip returned before I had a chance to react.

"Just let him go." She was annoyed as well, I could hear it in her voice. There was something we had in common.

"Why does he have to be like that?" I sighed.

"Because his brain can't function with all the noodles clogging his arteries." I laughed a little at that, he did have a sick obsession with ramen. I looked at Sakura who was staring at me oddly.

"What?"

"You have a nice laugh, you should use it more often." She was smiling, for some reason I just wasn't comfortable with smiling, even if I was happy.

"You want some lunch?" Her stomach had just given a large growl.

"How about some ramen?" she had a smile on her face, it was almost serious.

"Please tell me that you're joking."

"Yeah, I'm definitely joking."

XXXXXXX

After lunch we made our way back to the complex. You could tell where Sasuke had been thrown through the wall. The section would need to be repainted, but that wasn't that big of a deal. I watched Sasuke frown at the sight up the basic repair job. It was still better than a gaping hole, or the high cost of the repairs. Still we headed straight inside.

It had been humid all day, something that I despised in the weather. I headed straight for the shower, I needed to not be sweaty. Though I also just wanted to get my head straight, it had been a rather big day so far.

I went in and ran the water. Even though it was hot out I always used hot water. I stripped down and hopped in. The water was incredibly refreshing. A knock on the door disturbed my thoughts.

"Yeah?" I had to shout to make sure that he could hear me.

"Can I come in?" I figured he just would. He never bothered asking before.

"Uh, I guess." A moment later the sound of the door being opened and shut broke the monotony of the running water. I almost jumped out of my skin, when he got in the shower with me. I had to admit that while I was glad that he was getting more comfortable around me, but he could have at least said something.

"Hi." That was the dumbest thing anyone could have said. I wiped a large portion of my hair away from my eyes. His hands took me by the waist. They were cold against the heat of the water. Still they pulled me closer to him. I wasn't surprised when he leaned down and kissed me. It was different from the type of kissing we had done before. There was something more indescribable to it. It had passion.

"Make love to me." I broke the kiss, I couldn't resist my temptations anymore. It was more than sex that I wanted. I wanted to truly feel the connection between us. "Right now."

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><p><strong>Authors notes:<strong> Sorry for the slow, slow update. Yeah this chapter is something different huh? Obviously we know how the next chapter is gonna kick off. So yeah, pop a review or a PM, and I really could use a lemon written from a girls perspective if anyone feels up for it send me a PM or two depending on the length. Though this will be the last lemon for a while so suck it up if that's all you're here for.


	13. History lesson

**Authors Notes: **Well my last update had a rather large opening day. So a big thanks to everyone who read it.

I do apologize for the three...maybe four whole days it took to update. I know that's a terrible amount of time to wait. though my normal every day or two updates will hopefully continue on.

*edit at the end of the first day this was posted*- I just wanted to say thanks to the people who read this story, i just reached 10,000 hits. doesnt mean 10,000 viewers, but its a big start since this story is only 3 weeks old

**Disclaimer: **So I still don't own Naruto.

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><p>"Right now?" She was biting her lower lip, but I didn't think the location was really all that important to her at the moment.<p>

"Yeah, right now." Her voice was soft but enticing as she whispered barely audible over the sounds of the water running. She pulled me down into a kiss. I didn't mind the fact that we were going to have sex in the shower, but at first thought the mechanics of how to do it were going to be troublesome. I was going to have to hold her.

"What's wrong?" I realized that my mouth had stopped moving.

"I was just thinking about how this is even going to work." I couldn't help but notice that I was smiling.

"I hadn't thought of that." She looked puzzled for a moment as well. "You're just going to have to pick me up." I didn't know why, but I found the thought of pinning her against the wall arousing. I picked her up. However, getting it in was proving to be no small task either. After a few tries she gasped as she fell onto me.

"That worked." I grinned, I almost expected her to hit me for saying that. I hadn't really every been on for comical remarks.

"It sure did" she sighed in pleasure. I pinned her against the wall causing her to cry out again. Something about this position really seemed to get her going. I couldn't tell if it was just this position, or the fact that I had gotten more used to the sensation of her. I seemed to be lasting longer.

She moaned in pleasure every time I thrust into her, her legs tightening more and more around me. I quickened my pace, until finally I felt her climax, causing me to as well. Her legs were so tight it felt like she would break my ribs if squeezed any tighter. Slowly they relaxed, several minutes passed as we just stared into each other's eyes.

"Sasuke you can put me down now." She whispered.

"Hmm?" I had drifted off into thought.

"It's been almost five minutes now, I'm starting to get a little sore up here" She laughed at me. I put her down. "I think we should take an actual shower now." The water had long since turned cold. We powered through it for as long as we could take it. She seemed to hate it just as much as I did.

"Here." I handed her a towel she wrapped it around herself. I grabbed the remaining one and covered myself. Something about the way she looking in just a towel I found very appealing. We headed to the bedroom to finish getting dried off and changed.

"Get some rest; we can do another batch of training later."

"Are you Serious? More training?" She groaned and didn't look to happy that I had brought up training at a time like this. It reminded me of one of the reasons I had to leave in the first place. There was an unmistakable attitude around most people here.

"Yes, more training, there's not a lot of time till the Jonin exams, and you still have a long way to go." I cared for her, but I couldn't protect her all the time. She needed to be able to protect herself more. I doubted that I could ever give her the true type of romance most people looked for in life. I would instead have to show her my love through my actions. Even, if it meant a little tough love every now and then. She had loved me through worse.

She stuck her tongue out at me in disapproval; I expected a stronger reaction than that. Maybe she did understand after all.

"It's for you, you know?" I finished getting dressed and headed for the kitchen to make something to eat while we were out.

"I think that it's more for you than for me." she smiled as she came in the room.

"I don't follow." It was a terrible lie and she knew it. Still I didn't like being called out like that, even if it was from her.

XXXXXXX

He was such a terrible liar when it came to what he was actually thinking. I appreciated what he was doing though. While my dodging abilities were rather high, I still somehow managed to take quite a few hits every so often. The chidori stream, assuming that I could master it to his level, would alleviate many of them.

Still now wasn't the time, even with all the breakthroughs of the day to push him about his feelings. As much as I really wanted to delve into his mind I had to accept the fact that he would come out in his own time. The idea of training nearly twenty-four seven didn't enthrall me in the least though.

"You might want to get some rest while you can." The idea was a good one; my hips were still shaking from the sex earlier. I plopped down on the couch grabbing one of the throw pillows to use. The smell of the rice cooking and the silence started to put me to sleep

XXXXXXX

It had been nearly three weeks since Sasuke had returned. We had sex nearly every night, I instigated most of it even though I was tired from all the training he put me through. Though it seemed the times that he instigated our encounters they were much more passionate. He did have that kind of side to him, even if he seemed afraid to unleash it more.

However, the shape transformation that he wanted me to do was proving to be more challenging then some of the training Tsunade had put me through. I had only managed to make a static field so far at best.

"Agh, what am I doing wrong?" I fell to the ground; I was approaching my limit for the day.

"I have an idea, stand back up and be ready to try again." I dragged myself up. What was he planning? "I'm going to attack you for real." His words were cold, I knew he was serious. Tsunade had employed similar training with good effect. He drew his chokutō; the straight blade gleamed in the sunlight.

"Seriously?" I already knew he was serious, he took an attacking pose. He moved fast, not nearly at the speed that I knew he was capable of. If he had moved that fast I would have been in two pieces before I had even realized he moved.

I projected the energy around me; he was just a few feet away now. I released my charge, it was do or die. His blade was inches from my chest, causing me to release more chakra into it. It happened. That sense of fear that pushed you over what you thought you were capable of.

Arcs of electricity flew around me impacting Sasuke who had stopped dead in his tracks. I had to focus to gain control over it, attempting to keep the jutsu going for as long as I could manage. Sasuke had activated his own stream to counter the effects of mine, but matching it so it wouldn't overpower mine.

"Good" he leaned down and kissed me, the electricity in his kiss and in the air literally flew around us. No kiss would ever top this one. I couldn't close my eyes it was so beautiful around us. The blue light illuminated all of his features in the near darkness. The storm around us slowly died down as our kiss broke.

"Thank you…" it was the only words that came to mind. I collapsed into his arms. I had spent out nearly all of my chakra again. He picked me up and carried me home. It was a much farther walk than back to Ino's, but I didn't mind. I looked up and watched the stars on the way back.

XXXXXXX

I didn't remember falling asleep, but the stress from the days training before still hadn't left my body. I still had a few slight chakra burns here and there where I had been exerting it from. They would heal on their own though. I forced my way up out of bed, just to be pulled right back down by a Sasuke who was amazingly still in bed.

"Your still not well, take the day off you earned it, we've still got a few weeks to perfect it." I was shocked, but I wasn't going to argue.

"What about you, are you going to stay in too."

"I guess, but not for too long I get antsy if I stay in bed for too long." That was something I had noticed. Even when he was exhausted he didn't seem to like to rest. He was like Naruto in that way, always trying to reach that next level.

The two of them had a lot in common, though neither would admit it. You had to read between the lines to understand their relationship. As much as Sasuke didn't seem to like Naruto, deep down he seemed to carry some amount of respect for him. Though, they had a past that neither had ever told me about. I knew they fought on killing terms before, I could only hope that neither would be driven that far again.

Sasuke still hadn't opened up much more than he had on that day a few weeks ago. Maybe he was protecting me from a past that he himself just wanted to forget. I didn't blame him, there were things in my own past that were less than picture perfect. All of us were flawed in our own way, we just all dealt with it differently.

He pulled me in close to him; I let the comfort of the situation take over. Still mind wandered, we had never really talked about anything before. Not about anything besides training it seemed. I realized that I still knew very little about him.

"Why don't you ever talk about yourself?" I could feel his body tense up behind me. I knew talking about things wasn't comfortable for him, but we had to break the ice eventually. "It's just that I talk all the time and you just listen, and as much as I like that about you I know that you have stuff on your mind too."

"I wouldn't even know where to start. There are not a lot of happy moments in my life."

"Have you ever even talked about the bad ones to anyone before; maybe just talking about it could help."

"Still even if I was to talk I wouldn't know what to even talk about."

"Well talk about your brother." It was probably the wrong topic to start off on. He made a small laugh. That surprised me.

"This was all his idea you know, revive the clan into something noble and honorable. He played me for a fool my entire life, made me into _this_." I didn't really know anything about Itachi aside from what I had read in reports. Even that information was scarce.

"You're not some kind of monster you know."

"You see that notch in the door frame there?" I looked at the frame of the door. "On the right side just a few feet up."

"Yeah." A small notch was in the door; my experience didn't make it hard to tell what made that notch, I had seen plenty of similar ones.

"Here look." I turned over to see him pulling his shirt collar down, showing a thin scar on his left shoulder. "He did that the night my clan was killed."

"Why did he kill everyone?" I actually didn't know. There was actually no real information on it, other than just word of mouth, nothing that I had clearance to at least.

"He was ordered to, by the Third Hokage." I looked at him shocked. I couldn't believe that he would order something like that. "My father was planning a coup d'état. Itachi was ordered to kill our entire clan, including me.

"Then how come he didn't kill you?"

"He spared me so the clan could one day be reborn; he had to blackmail Danzo and the elders into not killing me afterwards. He even had to convince the Third into a similar deal."

"That's terrible. I guess I can understand why you did what you did" He had been rightfully hurt all this time.

"He wanted to make me into an avenger, so I would do all of this. You already knew that at some point I was going to attack Konoha." It brought back a lot of bad memories.

"He didn't want that, I had just been too stubborn to realize that until recently."

"What made you change your mind?" The fact that he had only _recently_ changed his mind about attacking Konoha was a little disturbing.

"…You." Damn he was being awful romantic lately. Why couldn't he be like this all the time? I could tell I was blushing. "I'm going to go make breakfast." I wasn't surprised. I knew it wasn't easy to put yourself out there like that. Especially for him.

XXXXXXX

I couldn't believe I said all of that. Almost no one knew any of that information. Maybe she had the right to know. It was just three weeks ago that I wanted her to just have my kids. Then things changed for me. I still wasn't used to talking like that though; being vulnerable still wasn't my thing.

Sakura walked into the living room carrying a few blankets and pillows to the couch. She was moving rather sluggishly, I was definitely right to tell her to take a day off, even though they weren't the type of thing that I usually took. I would take one today though.

"You want to watch a movie?" she walked over to the television and turned it on.

"I don't know I've never watched one."

"Really?" she looked at me with a surprised face.

"I've never had the time to watch movies or anything like that."

"You have time now, I guess I'll pick this time since you don't know any." She grabbed a case for am movie. From the distance I was I couldn't catch the title of it. I could only imagine what she had picked.

I finished with the breakfast, I just made eggs. I didn't much feel like making anything elaborate. I sat down next to her. She propped a pillow up against my legs and lay down.

"Ok, this is my favorite movie, I used to watch it all the time." She grabbed the remote off the table, and started the movie. I didn't have much interest in it but I watched regardless. Somewhere in the movie Sakura fell back asleep. I traced my fingers over her back as I watched the screen blankly.

It was some type of romantic comedy, I didn't particularly find it funny, nor was I into the romance. I fell asleep before it was over. I awoke to the menu repeating itself. I got up slowly so I wouldn't wake her up.

I went outside for a walk, the complex wasn't a large area of Konoha, and made for a good walk in peace. The afternoon air was starting to get hot, but I didn't mind, I needed the air and some exercise. It sure had been an interesting few weeks. There was a lot to process and a lot left to do still.

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><p><strong>Authors note:<strong> So it took a while to get this chapter out, one part I got a new Xbox game and another factor was that I had a lot of writers block, but I overcame, and hopefully it doesn't happen again too soon. Also this chapters short but hey, it ends where it ends.


	14. Begin: The Jonin Exams!

**Authors notes:** So, I had to buy a laptop in order to continue writing this story. So after a week long hiatus this story will now return to its regular daily/ every other day updates. Also I hate windows 7. its very user friendly, I don't like that.

Also thanks to Anee for your mention of that one story...not that i'll be writing another lemon for a while.

**Disclaimer: **I haven't updated in so long I almost forgot that I don't own Naruto.

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><p>Some of my old feelings had begun to return in the recent weeks. I still worked Sakura into the ground in preparation for the Jonin exams. Her progression in mastering the Chidori Stream was acceptable. Still being here without the pure intent to destroy this place only reminded me of our younger days. I had decided to halt my revenge, I still wasn't completely sold on the matter though. If something came in between me and Sakura and my goals of reviving my clan, I may not be able to hold myself back. People never completely changed, you couldn't erase the past.<p>

I watched the lightning race briefly across the skies, the storm would miss the village. It improved my mood slightly, at least my walk wouldn't be ruined by the rain. The Jonin exams would come in the morning. I couldn't sleep however. I walked the streets of the empty complex, it was strange to think that nearly two decades ago these streets were crowded. I was doing this partly for their sake, but mostly for my brothers. I wondered how he managed to escape the warmongering of our clan so well.

I headed home ignoring the fact that I likely wouldn't fall asleep for some time. I changed quietly in order not to wake Sakura up. She needed the rest more than I did. This whole exam and all the training was for her. Despite the fact that I needed to watch over her, I didn't have any real desire to advance my rank. Just because I had decided to change my plans didn't make me totally loyal to Konoha.

I got into bed slowly, she still shifted slightly at the movement. She didn't wake up though, I sighed as I got comfortable. I waited for her to turn into me, it was something I noticed she always did in her sleep. No matter where I was she seemed to just gravitate towards me in her sleep. If I snuggled up to her, it would just wake her up, and there wasn't any real need for that tonight.

I leered at the clock, and forced my eyes shut. I had to do that often, especially sleeping in this room. Though attempting to sleep often brought back bad memories. Still I focused my mind on the girl next to me, the mere sounds of her breathing lulled me into dreams.

XXXXXXX

"Hey, time to wake up." A firm hand shook my shoulder, that along with the smell of breakfast awoke me from the haze of sleep.

"You don't have to make me breakfast every morning you know." I said it even though I greatly enjoyed the fact that he did. Still he just shrugged as he handed me a bowl of rice.

"Are you ready for today?" He stuffed his mouth full of his breakfast. His table manners could be improved a little. He had a point though, today was the start of the Jonin exams. The few group exercises we did with Hinata and Kiba turned out to be moderately successful even if Kiba was reluctant to work with Sasuke.

"Eh, I guess, sure did plenty of preparation over the last month." I sighed, I still had slight burn marks here and there. Controlling where the individual currents went was a pain in the ass when trying to work multiples of them. Hinata attempted to help me, comparing it slightly to the Rotation. She mostly just helped me try and learn to release chakra from more points from my body.

"You'll be fine, I will be there to watch your back." It was a reassuring concept, but I was more than capable of protecting myself. Even if he didn't want to admit it yet. I had fought in plenty of battles before he had arrived. I had even fought and defeated and S-class criminal before, granted I had some help on that one.

XXXXXXX

After breakfast we headed off for the exams. I kept pace with Sakura, she was walking slightly faster than normal, which meant that I could keep my normal pace. We met up with the others before heading for the exam area. I was surprised to learn that a portion would take place in the Forest of Death. Would they really have the same test as in the Chuunin exams? At least this time there wouldn't be some kind of stupid test to take. At least not up front.

"Yeah, you guys lets do this!" Kiba shouted annoyingly. I often wished throughout many of our practice settings that he would just shut up. He had his uses, but neither him nor Hinata were as good of a sensor as Karin. She was a freak of nature when it came so being a sensor. Though she would be to busy trying to kill me in all likelihood. Sensor abilities aside she was a poor combatant, and thus on par with these two.

Hinata at least was quiet and soft spoken. She was capable of putting up a fight though. She trailed behind me and Sakura, while Kiba rode slightly ahead of us. The familiar forest rose into view after some time walking. At a distance it just looked old, but up close the high gates surrounding the forest came into view. This place had a lot of unpleasant memories with it. Several places in Konoha did that for me.

This place was the start of my true journey, my first run in with Orochimaru was life altering to say the least. I tried not to think of it as we approached the other groups. Some of the faces were familiar, the Jonin exams didn't occur as often as the Chuunin exams so there were many more people taking it.

"Everyone quiet down, I am Shikamaru Nara, and I am going to be the proctor for this exam." I had heard that he had made Jonin, but I always recalled him as being lazy, and a gadabout like Naruto when we were young. "I know several of you will remember this test, if you took the Chunnin exams during the year I took it, but I took the liberty of adjusting the rules a bit. This time there are three scrolls that you will need to acquire before headed to the center of the forest."

"Aw man three scrolls? Last time it was hard enough just to get two." Me and Sakura both spun around at the sound of Ino's voice.

"Ino what are you doing here?" Sakura harshly whispered to her. Though it was fairly obvious that she was here to take the exams seeing as Choji, Lee, and Shino were with her. I had been told that Shino was already on a mission, I didn't take that to mean that he had already been recuited.

"Taking the exams, duh. Seriously if your going to have that big of a forehead, you might as well put it to some good use." Sakura gave her a dirty scowl, I remembered their god awful rivalry over me, at least that was over.

"Why didn't you say you were taking them? You could have joined in with us." I personally didn't want her on our team, we didn't need two medics, we likely wouldn't need one. Not with me around.

"Because I didn't want to be on your team." Sakura looked a little confused at what Ino told her, I think I knew why. "You still owe me a rematch remember?" Sakura smiled, I wasn't personally there for their match, but Naruto had taken the liberty to inform me of all the details.

"I had almost forgotten, it's been so long."

"So everyone will go in at different locations, you'll receive your scrolls then. Shikamaru cut them off. Things were getting started.

XXXXXXX

"Now I don't think that its necessary for me to tell you all to watch yourself while your in the forest. I know your taking the Jonin exam, but people get killed from creatures in here every time we do exams here." The guide led us to our entrance gate. "Ok, here is your scroll, obviously you are not permitted to open it."

"Thank you." Sakura took the scroll from the man, and placed it in her back pouch near her tanto.

"Ok, you begin now, you have one week to reach the center with all three scrolls, not every team will make it obviously good luck." We didn't need luck. We had the best team out here by far. Maybe I was just being cocky though.

We leaped off into the forest, Hinata and Kiba began to search for other teams, Hinata would be rather useful in determining what scrolls the other teams had. Despite what in seemed on the outside this forest was _very_ big. I remembered how long it took us to encounter others the first time around. Hopefully with out two new additions we wouldn't have to spend to long in this awful place.

XXXXXXXX

Sasuke looked lost in thought as we leaped through the trees. I didn't blame him, I knew what this place in particular meant to him. I didn't like the fact that we could be spending the next few days here potentially. This place held bad memories for me, and likely for Sasuke as well.

"There's a group headed for us!" Kiba shouted.

"How far away are they?" I questioned, I didn't think we would have a run in this early on.

"Nearly two kilometers to the west, I don't think that they know we're here."

"Hinata can you see anything?"

"Not that far, but I might be able to see them in a few minutes when they are closer."

"What do you think? Should we set up an ambush?" Kiba inquired to me? I was in the lead for this exam, it was something that I still wasn't used to.

"We should wait and see what scroll they have." Sasuke spoke up. "It's very likely that they have one of the two we need. We they get close Hinata can find out which one they have. You can do that right?" Hinata nodded.

"Alright everyone get ready, and Sasuke...take it easy on them." He smiled, I just didn't want to see him get out of control in a situation that likely wouldn't get out of hand. His basic abilities would likely be more than enough. At least he didn't take insult to my comment.

"They have two scrolls!" Hinata excalimed as quietly as she could. Still to think that another squad would already have to scrolls, wasn't entirely expected, maybe they would be more trouble that I thought. Not that they stood a chance, we were more than ready for them.

"What scrolls do they have?" We had the Earth scroll once again. Thus needing the Heaven, and Spirit scroll. The veins around Hinata's eyes bulged a little more.

"They have the Spirit scroll...and the Earth scroll." I was beginning to think that we just might luck out. No matter though they had at least one we needed. We would have to take it.

"How much longer do we have at their current pace?

"Just barely a minute now." I could feel my heart rate start to quicken and the adrenaline starting to pump. They had no idea what they were in for.

* * *

><p><strong> Authors notes:<strong> so this is a very short chapter, but only cause the next one is going to be another long one, and I really feel like making an update. So yes expect a longer, action filled chapter within the next few days.


	15. Cold night

Ah back to my usual update schedule at last.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto...yeah nothing clever about that one.

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><p>I started to draw my chokuto, Sakura shook her head at me in disapproval so I re-sheathed it. I likely wouldn't need it anyways. I activated my sharingan and watched the world around me become razor sharp. Everything seemed slower, even though it was still moving in real time. I never grew tired of the experience. I drew several shuriken from my pouch, I hadn't had a chance to renew the tags on my arms in some time.<p>

The opposing squad never saw our attack coming, I managed to clip my target with a shuriken. He noticed then in a nick of time, it wasn't a fatal throw in the least. Though it would slow him down. Blood was seeping slowly through the side of his shirt. He froze at the sight of my sharingan, a perfect oppurtunity to put him into a genjutsu. Sakura had taken her target out in her surprise blow, not many could ever hope to even take one hit from her. The boy she hit was near our age, he was grasping his ribs as he sprawled on the ground gasping for air. I didn't even want to think about how many ribs he had broken at the moment.

Hinata, Kiba and Akamaru cornered the other to who were fortunate enough to be fully intact.

"The girl has the two scrolls." Hinata kindly pointed out to us.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll just give them up." Kiba smirked confidently at the girl.

"Your friends over there need medical attention, give us the scrolls and you wont need medical attention as well." The way that Sakura said that I found oddly appealing, I didn't know she could be threatening in that manner. It was almost sexy in a weird way, I found it odd that I even thought it was at a time like this.

"Just give them the scrolls, that's Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno. We don't stand a chance, and I'd like to leave here in one piece." Inwardly I laughed at his fear, but I was slightly surprised that Sakura also had made a name for herself. Maybe I hadn't been giving her enough credit as a kunoichi. She had spent many years training under one of the Sannin, but I suppose we all had been.

"Seriously? Why do you even need to take the exams?" She reluctantly pulled the two scrolls from her pouch I reached forward and took them. Then my sharingan caught something right as my hand took hold of them. They both had chakra in their feet, they were both getting ready to move and fast. Something was off.

"Those aren't the real scrolls!" Hinata shouted, the two other ninja's broke away. My instincts kicked in, I hurled the scrolls away to little avail, they exploded almost instantly after leaving my hands.

XXXXXXX

"Sasuke!" A wave of panick flew over me as I watched him disapear in the explosion in the bried moment that it existed. The blast also consumed Kiba and Akamaru, but my concern wasn't as great for them at the moment. I coughed as smoke from the blast flew by me, it soon cleared. A almost familiar figure surrounded Sasuke and the others, the Susano'o surrounded the three. Something was different. The shape was the same as I could tell it was just the skeletal system around them, but the color was no longer a deep violet as it had been every time I had seen it before now. It now glowed slightly red, not a menacing red either but a calm flowing red. I couldn't help but wonder for a moment why it had changed.

He deactivated it as I ran towards him, Kiba was locked in a pose protecting his face from a now non-existent blast. In other circumstances it might have almost been comical. Though despite the fact that Kiba was largely an ass he could be funny.

"Oh thank god your alright." I clung onto Sasuke, I could tell he was in some pain from activating the Susano'o, so I tried not to squeeze him to tight.

"What I don't get a hug?" Akamaru whined at Kiba's stupid comment. I'd deck him for it later.

"I'm fine, that was a rather dirty trick though, they couldn't have gone far, their teammates are still here."

"They split up, but are in easy distance of each other. Both of them have a scroll now. The girl has the one we need though."

"Let's go pay them another visit then." Sasuke mumbled.

"We better hurry too, that blast might attract some extra attention."

"This way!" Kiba climbed back on Akamaru.

They weren't to far away, a blast like that didn't give them much of a distraction. Still I was angry at the girl. She would pay. I was glad Sasuke was ok, but that bitch would pay from what she tried to do. I hadn't been this angry at someone in my entire life.

It barely took a few minutes to find her, Kiba and Hinata had her pinpointed the whole time I spared no time in destroying the tree she was attempting to hide behind. The tree nearly fell on top of her, she had barely managed to escape the fact that it was falling.

"You guys stay out of this she's mine." If the tone of my voice wasn't serious enough, my actions would show how serious I was.

"Give me the damn scrolls!"

There was a legitimate fear in her eyes, it was warranted. I wanted to break her for attempting to kill Sasuke. I marched towards her, she was immobilized by a rather large splinter of wood protruding from one of her legs. She was attempting to pull it out as I neared her. She would bleed out in a matter of minutes if she removed it, but I wasn't about to offer medical advice.

"I'll take this." I didn't waste any time digging through her things to find the scroll that she had. I just opted to take all of her supplies off her. She wouldn't be needing them. Kunai flew out of a nearby tree towards me. Sasuke easily knocked them away before they got even close. He dissapeared for a few moments before throwing the guy to the ground near the injured girl.

"See I told you." he growled at her. Sasuke took the other scroll from the man.

"We already have that one." Hinata spoke up shyly

"I know, I'm just cutting down on the competition." I watched him toss the scroll up before he sliced it into two with a swift strike from his chokuto. His sword was back in it's sheath before the two halves even had time to separate.

The girl was on the verge of passing out from the pain she was in. I knocked her out, it was far less than I actually wanted to do to her, but I needed to gain control over my emotions, before I wound up doing a lot more than just knocking her out, I had inured her enough already.

"Brutal..." Kiba muttered, Hinata just looked at me shocked. Sasuke had an odd stare towards me. He didn't looked shocked, more like he was interested in this side of me. He almost looked...proud. Maybe he wasn't entirely past his past. It wouldn't be a big surprise he had been back a little more than a month. We all had a dark side to us somewhere.

"Let's just find the next scroll already." I stormed off in a random direction. I hadn't been angry at someone like that since the day I learned my parents had died. I nearly destroyed a small segment of forest that day, until I couldn't move. Though in the end taking out my anger on things didn't help. I wondered how long it took Sasuke to realize that. Was it not until all those weeks ago. I couldn't imagine carrying this kind of rage all the time. I was just mad at a sneak attack. He had to carry his brothers life on his shoulders.

"Hey can you both give us a moment?" It was Sasuke's voice that broke me from my thoughts.

"Sure." Kiba spoke up for them both.

We walked slightly out of earshot from the others. Sasuke sat me down on a large tree root protruding from the ground.

"You need to get a hold of yourself. What she did was a bit of a dick move but I'm fine. She didn't even scratch me."

"But that technique hurts you!"

"The pain of that is far less painful than being blown apart."

"Should I go fix her leg?" I was feeling some regret about it, I still wasn't ok with hurting people like that. It was cruel and dangerous to leave her in that kind of condition. I knew that being a ninja meant that I might have to kill someone some day, but I knew that I currently didn't have the resolve to do so.

"She'll make it so long as her teammates help her out of this place, we're not to far in." His words did little to comfort me. He was right though, I couldn't stop now, we had barely gotten started. "So take a few deep breaths for a while then we'll all keep going." He motioned the other back towards us, it wasn't particularly safe here to be separated, even if just for a few moments.

After a short break we headed more towards the center of the forest towards the large tower in the middle of the forest. It wasn't really visible from anywhere but the tops of the tallest trees. We didn't have a need to climb and gain direction, Hinata was more than skilled enough to be able to tell us where it was.

Hinata led the way, while Kiba kept guard on our rear. There wasn't any sign of any other teams for the rest of the day, and soon the sun was setting. The forest got dark particularly fast. We started setting up camp. Kiba and Akamaru took the first watch for the night after Hinata tried to take the first one. He still liked to protect and watch out for her. I secretly wondered if he had a thing for her. It would never be reciprocated though, she was still deathly in love with Naruto. The two were happily engaged at this point. Much to her fathers disapproval.

She was no longer the heir to the Hyuuga clan, she hadn't been for many years. Her younger sister was currently in a fixed relationship. Though not being the heiress allowed her to pursue her own life, which was good for a girl like her. I did envy certain parts of her particularly in the chest area though. I scorned my genetics in that regard.

He set up a tent that him and Hinata would share. Sasuke and I crawled into our small tent and set up the inside making a quick makeshift bed. There wasn't any point changing. We kept our weapons close by just in case someone managed a surprise attack somehow.

"Get some sleep." He didn't need to tell me twice. I had been brooding over the days incident, it would be nice to stop for a while.

"Hey, can I hold you tonight? It might help me calm down some." He looked unsure, but reluctantly agreed. It was odd to hold him for a change, I usually woke up snuggled against him with his hand on my back. He seemed rather rigid, and not entirely comfortable with the sensation of being spooned like this. A near entire day of running however took its precedence and forced me to drift away.

XXXXXXX

The sounds of the forest coupled with Kiba and Akamaru's snoring didn't seem to let me sleep. Sakura had taken her usual sleeping position. I decided to keep Hinata company, not that I felt like it in particular. If I couldn't sleep I might as well help keep watch for a while. She wasn't surprised to see me come out of the tent. She obviously saw me coming. In the faint light of the small fire that was going I could see her byakugan was activated.

"I sat across the fire from her, the air in the forest at night was surprisingly cool even though it was late in the summer. She was standing away from the fire, poised for action that likely wouldn't come. In all likely hood most teams would be doing exactly what we were.

"Your shivering, come sit, no ones coming." I threw a few nearby stick into the fire, no one in there right mind would attack us. Well attack me at least. She reluctantly abandoned her post, maybe she was thinking what I just was. I watched the smoke drift lazily up into the treetops. The small crackles were a pleasing disturbance to the overall silence.

The pupils of her eyes didn't show, I bet even with my sharingan I wouldn't be able to make them out. But even in the low light I could tell that she was staring me down.

"Hm?"

"Y-you're chakra has changed since you got here, I cant really describe it well, but its changed." She still retained that slight stutter from when she was young, though I had heard her talking without it. She still wasn't very confident in herself, she had no reason not to be though. She was...pretty in her own right, along with being a capable ninja. Though when it came to being a ninja she didn't have anything that outwardly set her apart.

"I figured that already, the thing you saw me do earlier to escape that blast, the Susano'o the color is reflected off your chakra. It used to be violet, now it's the same as when I saw my brother use his."

"I see."

"He really had the world figured out, I can see that now." I tossed a few more nearby sticks into the fire and watched them slowly burn away as we sat in silence. Finally the fact that I was tired caught up with me. Hinata returned to her vigilant post, she didn't seem to be phased by staying up on watch. Though being a sensor like her, she was likely used to it in some manner.

I pulled open the small tent flap, I wasn't used to using them but Sakura insisted, describing bouts with various insect and other unfriendly wildlife she encountered on our last bought through here. She let out an unpleasant moan as the cool air from outside came into contact with her exposed face. I closed the flap as quickly and as silently as I could manage.

I crawled into the blankets, they were nice and warm now due to Sakura's body heat. The girl seemed to just emit heat. Some nights that was slightly frustrating since she slept right on top of me.

"Geez you're freezing cold!" she moaned after making some slight contact.

"Sorry, I couldn't sleep so I went out for a bit."

"I know I heard you talking earlier." Her voice was strained since she was still half asleep.

"Oh."

"Try and get some sleep, I know you haven't gotten to much over the last few days." She snuggled into me despite the fact that I was cold. Her warm breath on my chest was a rather pleasant sensation. I closed me eyes and focused on that one thing about her. It helped to try and think about one thing, and not all the things that plagued me from my past. At least it was working.

XXXXXXX

Unsurprisingly I woke up before Sasuke, he had a rough night again. It was something that I noticed was common for him. He never seemed to want to go to sleep. Though I knew what it was like to be troubled by things. Still nature was calling, and it would be easiest to do that while Hinata was on watch.

After taking care of that matter I woke Sasuke up, I few beams of light were forcing their way through the tree branches. One landing right on Sasuke's eyes when I opened the tent flap. His eyes forced themselves even more shut. I laughed slightly at his feeble attempt to not have to wake up.

"Come on you might as well get it over with." he growled as he sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. I could hear Kiba letting out a few yawns of his own. That saved me the trouble of waking him up as well. Sasuke grabbed his chokuto and bag then crawled out of the tent. I collapsed it behind him, while him and Kiba went to go do their morning business. Hinata went and pulled theirs down and packed it away as well

"Hey I picked up on something just a minute ago, another group not to far from here."

"Good, let's go find them." A smile spread across my face, they may not have the remaining scroll we needed, but if they did it meant the sooner we could get out of this miserable forest.

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><p><strong>Authors notes:<strong> meh pretty cut and dry this chapter...review, or else...


	16. Breaking

**Authors notes: **Sorry about another short chapter here, and the fact that it took longer than usual to update. I've been VERY busy, so its been a little hard to find the time to write this one. So I give you what I have so far, and I will start on the next chapter as soon as possible

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto...at this point that should be like "Duh"

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><p>The cool morning air of the forest was pleasant to run through, even though it would be hot and humid in only a matter of hours. I didn't particularly enjoy the heat, so hope fully we could manage to acquire the remaining scroll before then. Less resistance would be nice as well, I had no intention of some nobody attempting to blow me up again.<p>

Still, seeing Sakura in her enraged state, put her in a different sort of light. She typically didn't show much resolve, but yesterday I briefly thought she was going to kill that girl. I had a hard tie picturing her kill someone. She didn't have the heart to pull it off, no matter the situation. In some way it made her a slight liability, but it was overruled by her skill as a medic.

Even on the bridge after killing Danzo I couldn't ignore her skills, but being unable to kill someone, or her friends for that matter, wouldn't have worked. Even if she truly meant to join me on my quest for vengeance, instead of trying to assassinate me. If she had killed Karin right there and then I likely would have let her come, she did have a true allegiance to me, though.

"How much farther till we intercept them?" Sakura questioned Kiba.

"Maybe another two kilometers or so...but it seems someone beat us to them. They're engaging them right now.

"That makes things easier for us. By the time we get there, it should be easy pickings." I didn't like the fact that we were going to scavenge potential scrolls off people who were likely no match for us in the first place. Still, this was an exercise in a dangerous place. I was sure I would be the one to blame if something happened to anyone here. Whether it was in my control or not.

The few minutes leading up to our contact with the two groups, were lead by Sakura in silence. In the distance towards their direction, a few small explosions could be hear

"Rasengan!" I stopped dead in my tracks, what was Naruto doing here?

"Sasuke are you alright?" The group stopped, taking a moment a moment to turn around and see why I had stopped so suddenly.

"You didn't hear that? Why's Naruto taking the exam?" Sakura giggled.

"It's not Naruto." She reassured me. It sure did sound like Naruto, voice and all. Plus he was the only person I knew who used that jutsu.

"Then who?"

"You'll see."

XXXXXXX

"Sakura! I didn't know that you were taking the exams too!" A young boy, several years younger than us, who couldn't be older than sixteen ran over to greet her. He was very reminincent of Naruto. Without the strange marks on his face, and he had brown hair instead of blonde. Their mannerisms were awfully alike though, and if he knew the rasengan and was taking the exams at this age it was clear that Naruto was personally mentoring him.

"I see you took care of things here." Sakura notioned to the older ninja, who had been sent through a rather large tree. His shirt had been ripped to shreds, and even though I could tell that it wasn't a full strength rasengan, the man had several gashes in his torso in the unmistakable spiral pattern the jutsu left behind. He would be fine he would just be in the hospital for some time, if he got there in time.

"Yeah they were no match for us." he gave a thumbs up in the direction of the rest of his team. Two of them were oddly familiar, and so was the boy. I just couldn't seem to put my finger down on it. I didn't recognize the other member of their team, but it wasn't really important. I glanced at Hinata, who was eying the fourth member out of the corner of her eye.

"I can see that." She laughed. " Your training with Naruto is really starting to show."

"So how many scrolls do you guys have, I bet you already have all three huh?"

"No, we just have two, which ones do you have."

"Don't tell them, they might try to take ours." The orange haired girl had a point, they may just be kids, but I wasn't above taking the last scroll we needed if they ended up having it.

"Yeah, sorry I can't tell you which ones we have."

"We should get going though..." He looked at me with a slight uneasiness. I was still debating taking their scrolls, whether or not the others approved.

"Sakura, I think we should take their scrolls..." I whispered quietly to her. I could see her thinking it over, she knew I was right. The odds that they had the remaining scroll we needed were high.

"I'm sorry...Konohamaru, it's nothing personal." I didn't expect that reaction from her. I was positive she would defend her friend.

"Seriously?" Konohamaru looked shocked as well. "Your going to take ours?

I activated my sharingan. I didn't plan on seriously injuring them. I knew that I would never hear the end of it if I did.

"I'll take my sister." the small framed girl in the background spoke up. I hadn't seen her eyes before now, but if I had it would have been more clear. She was a Hyuuga. So the younger brat had a sensory type on his team. Assuming that it was his. I looked over at Hinata, I could see the resemblance between the two now.

The fact that Hinata wore much baggier clothing than her sister hid the fact that she too had a small frame. I could see the confidence in the younger kids eye's. She was younger than the three members on her team. Maybe by a few years, but judging by her chakra I could tell she was by far one of the more skilled. If not the most.

"We haven't had a good spar in a while." She moved with intent towards Hinata almost backed away before standing her ground. She was shaking in fear, I didn't know how obvious that may have been to everyone else, but with my sharingan she might as well have been trying to run away. Was she really that unsure of her abilty.

"Then I want him." Konohamaru singled me out, the kid had spunk, but he was out of his league. Not that these were going to be real fights. I might actually get to enjoy this a little. I merely cracked a smile, accepting his challenge.

"So everyone fights someone? Well then let's try and not hurt each other too much ok?"

Kiba paired up with the young boy, he would almost certainly win, regardless of how serious the fight was. Sakura paired up with the other girl, she stood no chance either.

XXXXXXX

Facing the brown haired boy reminded me of Naruto. The look of confidence in his eyes despite the fact that he was facing a much stronger opponent. He would push the limits of my basic abilities, I was sure.

I put on the headband that I carried around, I was going to make the kid an offer.

"If you can put a scratch on it, I'll concede defeat." It wasn't something that wasn't completely impossible for him to do.

"Your on." He made the first move, a head on attack. Not the brightest tactic against someone wielding the sharingan. In reality, he was moving with good speed, but to me he was in slow motion. Only people like the former Raikage or a Jinchuuriki in command of the beast within them moved fast enough to counter the sharingan.

He made the first move, a barrage of combo attacks, all easily dodged. His style was similar to Naruto's. No real form or style to his moves, just unorthodox attacks. I dealt a counter blow, straight taijutsu was never a true specialty, most of what I knew I had copied from others. Though I had some original moves, I had become somewhat of a ninjutsu specialist. Though most of them were meant to kill others.

He wiped the blood off his lips, the grin that he wore on his face; like the blow didn't even faze him, truly did make him resemble his teacher. I imagined that his _ninja way _was the same. It was stupid.

"I'm not done yet." He held up an all to familiar sign. So Naruto taught him more than just the rasengan. Shadow clones, though the amount wasn't nearly as many as Naruto was able to make. There were just three. They moved close together.

"Harem no jutsu." My mind came to a complete stop, was this really happening. Several Sakura's were rubbing against each other. What kind of sick jutsu was this, and why couldn't I stop staring at them. I could feel my blood pressure rising, I needed to look away. I turned my head in time to see multiple kunai headed my direction. I quickly dodged them. They came from everywhere, it looked like he made more than a few. I had underestimated him. It wouldn't happen again.

"Pretty good kid, but you're going to have to try harder than that." The clones of Sakura dissipated. I was glad that the distraction was over.

"Konohamaruuu! Sakura landed a deathly blow to his face, only to have the body disappear in a puff of smoke. "I am going to kill you when I find the real you." The rest of the fights stopped except for Hinata and Hanabi's. The two were exchanging blows, Hanabi clearly had the upper hand in the fight. We should have recruited her instead.

Sakura continued to fight Konohamaru's shadow clones. The orange hair girl joined in as well, she seemed just as pissed at Konohamaru for employing his previous technique. Did they think that this was some type of game. It wasn't the time or place to be messing around, but they looked like they were enjoying themselves. I didn't understand the situation entirely. To them this was...fun.

XXXXXXX

I warned him what would happen if he ever used that jutsu again, but to use me in it was the last straw. I was also gonna give Naruto a good punch in the face for even teaching him that perverted nonsense.

I was angry again, not like I was yesterday, but for being violated like that right in front of me. I burst through several more shadow clones, which now were try to fight back. I was actually going to hurt Konohamaru. Now I knew what Tsunade was feeling when she told me stories about Jiraiya.

I finally had the real one, Konohamaru was back against a tree.

"Sakura wait I didn't mean to..."

"No, I'm sorry," I used a sweet voice. He looked confused. I threw a full out punch towards his ribs. He dodged with barely an inch to spare. The tree behind him exploded into chunks of wood and splinters. A normal tree would have been felled, but the unnaturally large ones here, couldn't even be downed by just one of my punches.

"Get back here and take what you have coming."

"Ummm...or not. Looks like I'm actually going to have to fight you." He pulled a kunai out from his pouch and proceeded to throw it at me. As if a basic throw like that could hit me. I dodged it easily. I poof of smoke sounded behind me. Damn shadow clones.

"Crap!" There wasn't time for me to dodge the kick now headed my direction. In a flash he was thrown away. Sasuke stood where Konohamaru had once been, his arm still outstretched from throwing Konohamaru by the leg. His face was stern.

"Why did you do that? I can handle myself." I yelled at Sasuke. Though I didn't mean to be rude I just couldn't contain himself again.

"He would have gotten you." I didn't like the fact that I knew he was right. Was Konohamaru already surpassing me. I wouldn't let one exchange get me down though. "Next time he gets close use what I taught you. He won't be expecting that." I nodded in approval. Konohamaru picked himself up off the ground.

"Is he going to interfere again?" I shook my head no at him. Sasuke put some distance between us. He ran at me again. He was faster than most people were, but I had been preparing for people like him. As soon as he got past the point of no return with his attack I started the jutsu. Hand signs were something that I hadn't really used with speed before. I made it in time though, the intense training kicked in. Konohamaru was paralyzed on the spot by the arcs of electricity that flew in nearly every direction around me.

Now that I had him I was going to make him pay for exposing me like that. I punched him in the ribs, a satisfying crack of ribs filled the air.

"I warned you about that jutsu." I grabbed the remaining scroll we needed. He had had it the whole time. I stormed off towards the others, Konohamaru was coughing up blood, Moegi was fixing him up behind me. I didn't feel the least bit sorry for him for once.

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><p><strong>Authors Notes:<strong> I know I said that i was on a hiatus with this story, but that should end this saturday July the 26th. That's just a few days from now, so look forward to it. I just got promoted at my job, so getting into my new schedule has been a little rough. plus I have to work A LOT more hours than before. So I do apologize for the wait but this story will resume soon.


	17. Surprise Guest

**Authors notes:** OK, so I figured it was time to get this story going again, now that I have my creative juices going, limited as they may be at times. So yeah there was a rather long delay on this chapter, but but for most stories it's just a typical update rate. Long for me at least.

Oh, and thanks to everyone who reads this, I just hit 16,000 hits.

**Disclaimer: **If for some reason Masashi Kishimoto did a fic. Would he have to do a disclaimer? Regardless of that question, I don't own Naruto.

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><p>"That was just a little over the top Sakura." Truth be told the boy had it coming. He clearly knew Sakura well, and should of known that she had one hell of a temper, and that obviously wasn't the first time he had used that stupid jutsu around her. I could still here the boy coughing up blood. Even though his teams medic was attempting to stop the bleeding.<p>

"Whatever you're one to talk...Where's Hinata?" She was out of it, she had almost left her behind. It was a good question though. Hinata was busy losing her fight with her sister. Who was many years her junior judging from her looks. The younger one just seemed to have more initiative than Hinata. It was over in just a few minutes. The girl had talent. She clearly had a much stronger affinity for the style than Hinata did, but she too managed to land several blows during the exchange.

After a few taunting words at Hinata her apparent sister went and rejoined her team. I could tell the young girl didn't go all out on Hinata. I knew perfectly well what a Hyuuga of her skill level was capable of, if she really wanted to kill Hinata, she would be dead.

Sakura took a moment to tend to her. Her external injuries werent bad of course, but I could see the bruises starting to form already. She was going to slow us down a little, but we had what we needed and in a good amount of time as well.

"We need to take a break, she's worse than I thought." Sakura called over to me and Kiba. We were watching the other group take off, carrying Konohamaru. It had been a half way "_even" _fight. I could have defeated all of them myself in a real one. Which only lead me to question myself why I was here some more. Even so, if we were going to have to wait on the girl, I might as well take an actual rest. My lack of sleep in the last few days was starting to catch up with me.

I stared down at Hinata, we had an option that I hadn't considered before now since we didn't have the all the scrolls, and since she could barely walk it was the perfect option. Not only that it would keep us far out of reach of any other nuisances that might try to prove their stuff against us.

"We can get her better attention at the facility in the center."

"Yes, I know Sasuke!" She sounded mad at me for stating the obvious. It wasn't the first time someone had yelled at me though. "But with her like this it might take days to get there. Assuming that we don't run into any more trouble."

"We can be there in less than a half hour." I didn't waste time on explanations, I wanted out of this place anyways. I drew blood and performed a summoning jutsu. Two puffs of smoke from the space time jutsu's activation appeared on both sides of me. Akamaru whined at the sight of them. That was good, they were to be feared.

"Here, this is Itsumaden." I notioned to the one on my left. "Kiba and Akamaru can ride him to the center." I could see Sakura eying the other one, he was much larger than Itsumaden. He was also the same one we rode on to Konoha. Sakura helped Hinata up, she was going to need to recover soon, but with the time we would gain from this move, she would have some time to rest.

"This one is Tengu...be respectful when getting close." I climbed on first, helping to lift Hinata up on him. I glanced over to see Akamaru awkwardly trying to climb onto the oversized hawk. Kiba didn't look any less awkward. I amused myself at the thought of the two falling off somewhere upon take off.

With a hard flap of Tengu's wings we lifted off the ground, even carrying the three of us he had no trouble. A familiar rush of air came over me as soon as we broke through the tree tops. The forest seemed to stretch endlessly, even from this height. Sakura continued to treat Hinata's wounds as we ascended higher, out of reach and view. On the horizon I could see the center building. It wouldn't take long to get there.

I glanced over at Itsumaden, Kiba was having to hold Akamaru to keep him calm. The dog clearly didn't enjoy flying at all. Even by air it took nearly ten minutes to arrive. We put Hinata on Akamaru, the dog seemed like he had carried her before, the way he walked was more precise and careful than normal.

"Welcome, you guys are the first to arrive, we honestly weren't expecting anyone so soon." It was Shikamaru, I hadn't seen him in some time, he was apparently one of the proctors for this exam. "You'll likely have at least another full day before anyone else shows up, I can set you up with some rooms until then. Let's get her some help first." I was wondering how long it was going to take him to notice Hinata. Then again she was rather easy not to notice at times.

He called for a few doctors. Sakura seemed hesitant to leave her care, but I talked her into coming with me to get some real rest. She had been healing her earlier and I was well aware of the strains that put on her chakra. She was tired, but was to proud to let it show or even admit it. I practically had to force her to the room still. Hinata, assuming that she would be released tonight would have to share a room with Kiba. I didn't envy her for that.

Sakura collapsed on the bed as soon as she was even able to reach it. Night was still a few hours away, but even I didn't mind some rest, I placed my chokuto beside he bed before climbing in beside her, she was in the middle of taking her gear off and throwing it on the other side of the bed.

I could honestly say that I didn't know what to say or do to calm her down. It was just all the more proof of how far we still had to go to make everything work out between us. My experiences with women didn't include consoling them.

"Well today just sucked" She sighed, I was glad that she was the one to break the silence of the room. Aside from the light barks that were coming from across the hall. "I seriously hurt a friend of mine over something stupid, and I couldn't fix Hinata's wounds right"

"You don't have to beat yourself up about any of that, they're both going to be fine, just take it easy for the next few days." I didn't know where the words were coming from, but they seemed the most natural things to say.

"I know, but I should have been able to fix her, I'm supposed to be good at medical jutsu."

"You are good, I'm sure those other doctors are barely going to have anything left to fix." That sounded like a good thing to say. Flattery was far away from my strong point. It seemed to work though, she turned around to face me with a smile on her face.

"Thanks for trying to cheer me up. I'm sorry I've been so emotional lately. It's just been such a crazy month, and I haven't had much of a chance to process it all."

"Oh, I agree with you there. This whole exam thing should be over relatively soon anyways. Then we can relax a little." I forced myself farther down into the bed. I was still pretty tired from all the not sleeping I had been doing for the last few days. "We should get some rest, we can see what's up tomorrow morning."

"Yeah, I'm pretty tired, medical jutsu really takes it out of you." She curled up next to me, I reached down and pulled the covers up to her shoulders. I could tell she was going to fall asleep rather soon from the content aura I could feel from her, or maybe it was my own, I didn't care I closed my eyes with her.

XXXXXXX

Sasuke was already out of bed by the time I woke up, I groaned as I grabbed my things, I needed a shower bad. Going a few days without one was starting to catch up with me. It was hard to guess what time it was, there weren't any clocks or windows to try and judge the time from. I stumbled into the hallway, it was still empty, I figured that it had to be rather early in the morning.

Down the hallway I could hear the sound of a shower running, that had to be where Sasuke was. I headed towards the sounds, attempting to find which door they were coming from, there were several doors on both sides. I found the right one after a minute and peeked inside. Steam hit me in the face as it escaped out of the shower room, it took a moment for my eyes to adjust, it was Sasuke in the shower. I mentally thanked myself that it was, it would have been rather awkward to walk in on Kiba washing his dog naked again. That was a memory I would love to forget.

I walked in unannounced, he likely knew I was here before I opened the door anyways, he never seemed to let his guard completely down. It was something that most people probably hadn't noticed, but I obviously spent more time around him than anyone else had. I wondered who he thought was out to get him at this point. Then again he was still a wanted person in many countries, I often forgot that detail.

"Hey. You're up earlier than I expected, it's not even light out yet." He turned the shower off and grabbed a towel before he fully came into view. I found myself slightly disappointed at the action.

"I was just wondering where you went is all. It's kind of creepy here." The place did have a rather strange aura to it, it was the same story with the forest as well. Maybe it was the fact that everything here was old and had history. Who knew how many great shinobi had stayed in these very halls.

"Yeah." He laughed. "It is now that you mention it, I always feel like something is going to jump out at me around every corner." This was one of those fascinating moments where I couldn't tell whether he was being serious, or just playing along with me. Though maybe his attempting to play along with me was his way of trying to sound normal. If there was in fact such a thing of normalcy in this whole situation. Still I figured it was best to take it as genuine. "Did you want to grab a shower? There's still plenty of hot water left."

"Will you stay?" The surprised look on his face wasn't as bad as the voices in my head screaming at me for asking that. I didn't know where it came from, it just seemed to pop out on it's own.

"Y-yeah." It was a rare thing to hear Sasuke stutter, I was always slightly amused when he did. "I can stay." He almost looked as if he didn't want to. I knew he was still pretty girl shy, and that was one thing that I really wished he would get over fast. He had already seen me naked plenty of times, but he seemed afraid to actually do anything that I knew he had to want to. I started to undress, I wasn't shocked when he turned around, maybe he thought I was just teasing him again. I did like doing that though.

I climbed into the hot shower, the hot water ran down my body. I took a few moments to suck in the pleasantness. I had missed this for the last few days. Sasuke stood watching me, just standing there in his towel. I stared back at him, he didn't seem to know where to look at me, all he seemed to do was force himself to make eye contact. Every once in a while he would drift somewhere else before snapping back to my face.

"Hey come here real quick." He was just a few feet away, I grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him over, I flung his towel down to the wet floor. I was right, he had been hiding something.

"I know, I have a hard on, but we agreed that we wouldn't have sex until the exams were over." I was frustrated with that answer. I knew that was something I had agreed on earlier, but over the last few weeks I felt like I really needed to have sex. Enough to say that I was desperate for it at times. I had even snuck off a few times in a sad attempt to satisfy myself, but that usually made things worse in the end. I just felt like I needed it bad right now.

"I know, but we have a free day here, we might as well celebrate that. Please?" I had to sound rather pathetic at the moment. I was virtually begging him for it.

"Fine, but just this one time, no more until we're done here. Got it?"

"Got it" I laughed, but I was finally going to get what I had been missing for a while.

XXXXXXX

I was beginning to think that Sakura was getting a little too into sex. She seemed to want it more and more lately, I had even seen her getting herself off before, of course she would never know that I saw her doing that. I didn't want to tell her I had watched her do that anyways. I definitely didn't want her to know that I was just as eager for this as well.

I closed the gap between us, she leaned forwards against the wall, exposing herself to me. She didn't even want the foreplay apparently. I didn't mind either, I just stepped forward and entered her. The warmth of her seemed even hotter than the water around us. She moaned out loud as soon pushed it in as far as I could manage.

"Hush, someone will hear you if you're that loud."

"Sorry, just don't stop." With her free hand she covered her mouth. She usually wasn't so vocal during sex. I wondered what had gotten into her. I continued to thrust into her until at last she came, just slightly before me. The extreme tightness of her coming practically forced me to as well. It didn't last but for a few minutes, but they were rather intense compared to normal. She didn't waste any time holding back to drag things out longer like usual, and neither did I.

There was a sudden knock on the door, I spun around in surprise, pulling out of her in the process.

"Hey, if you two are done, they want to see us to brief us on the second part of the exams." It was Kiba, he must of heard, or worst case smelled us together in here. It was likely both, Sakura was still a little too loud for my tastes even while trying to hold it all in.

"Yeah, we'll be out in a little bit." Sakura called to him through the door.

"Just meet us in the main room, you guys know the one. Apparently a few more teams have arrived too." I turned the water off, it was starting to get cool anyways. I grabbed a new towel off the rack, since Sakura was kind enough to throw mine on the floor. I grabbed one for her as well.

We got dressed and headed for the main hall, the place where the preliminaries took place during the chuunin exams. I doubted that the space was big enough for any kind of fight between the average jonin now. Even Sakura's fighting style could level the whole building if she had to. Still as we stepped in I was curious as to who else could have made it here so fast. The first person I noticed was someone who we had been led to believe wouldn't even be participating. Ino, and the chubby guy Choji that she was supposedly dating. I wondered what she saw in him.

I looked over at Sakura, who was just as shocked to see her and her team there. That shock quickly changed into a smirk. I recalled Sakura saying that she had always wanted a rematch with Ino. She was her rival of sorts. It would be interesting to see which one of the two was better. Ino was much more than just a pretty face and a hot body. All of that was a front to hide the fact that she was much more talented than she liked to give off.

It was going to be an interesting day, that was for sure.

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><p><strong>Authors notes:<strong> OK, I plan to actually update this one from now on and put, Becoming The Enemy on hiatus as of now. I probably wont be able to update like I used to, but I'm going to try for at LEAST once a week.


	18. A different reality!

**Authors notes:** Wow, one little mention of Ino being there and everyone's all like "REMATCH!" That might be a slight over exaggeration, but close enough. Ah, well once again I am going to continue this story at the fastest pace possible. Also, I love fact that everyone just assumes Sakura will win her supposed fight against Ino. I may surprise you, you never know. I'm just saying, don't assume she's gonna win. I happen to like Ino more than Sakura...but I won't let my bias get in the way of the story.

**Authors notes:** (Yes, a second one, because I am editing how this whole chapter goes. Sorry if you're re-reading this one.)Meh, so maybe Sasuke losing a fight seemed rather implausible, but more or less I was trying to think of a scenario where he could potentially lose to someone who wasn't Naruto or some other seemingly impossible to beat person, regardless, he has flaws so get over it. It's fanfiction, it doesnt have to be perfect.

The reason I like Ino more has nothing to do with her boobs lol, nice try annee (I spelled it right that time) I just find her to be more talented (than Sakura) in every aspect available (that does include looks btw). And Sakura vs. Lee...please. No emotions involved Lee would have it in the bag.

**Disclaimer:** Once again, I don't own Naruto.

"Ino seriously what the hell? I thought you weren't going to take them." Ino just put on a smug that made me want to slap it off of her. I hated being lied to and she was being so smug about it.

"I said I wasn't going to be on your team. That's because I was already taking them with Choji, Shino and Lee here." Lee was eying me uncomfortably, I didn't know why she felt the need to introduce them, I knew who they were. So did everyone else in this room.

"Why all the secrecy?"

"Because the look on your face right now is priceless, and I can't wait to beat you again."

"You didn't beat me last time, neither one of us won!" She was more full of herself than I was. Somewhere in here, I was going to beat her. Even if she was still around my skill level. We had never even sparred since the last exams. Our next fight assuming that it happened, would be all out. I could break her in half like a twig. Her and her girly figure that she was so proud of. I was yet to, if I ever would, fill out like her.

"Well I'm going to win this time. I have a few new trick up my sleeve. You're not the only one whose been going off and doing secret training, but then again you've never seen what kind of training I've done so you have no idea what I can do. I however know everything that you've got." She had me on that point, except that I had a few new tricks up my sleeve. All she had to do was get close and it would be over.

"We'll see pig." I saw Kiba watching over Hinata a few feet away, I hadn't noticed them until now.

"Let it go Sakura, you might get your chance here soon enough. Besides, you can more than likely beat her no problem." I didn't like the fact that he said I could more than likely beat her, but I had learned that he didn't really like to be absolute. There was a possibility that Ino could win, just as much as it was possible that he could lose a fight here, however unlikely.

"How are you doing Hinata, I was sure that she was in pain, most likely just from all the bruising that would have been left behind even after being treated. That was something that was difficult and rather impractical to heal. Aside from the soreness I could tell she was having, she looked to be alright. Her sister had given her quite the beating, just like her cousin Neji had given her years ago.

"I'm much better now." There was a slight sadness in her voice, she must have been upset about losing again. The truth of the matter was that she had improved significantly over the last few years, but her sister was just something else. I think she knew that before starting the fight, but stood up to her anyways, she was by far less shy than she used to be. Though if you put her in a corner she would still attempt to retreat at first.

"That's good. Are you going to be alright for the rest of the exams though?" It was a false concern. I knew that she wasn't going to drop out regardless of her condition.

"I'll be fine." She sounded slightly annoyed at me. I was beginning to think that she wasn't liking all the attention everyone was giving her. Especially from Kiba, who at times was known to be way over protective of her. Like he was her brother or something.

"If I can get you're attention. We're going to announce the rules for the preliminaries." Shikamaru's voice filled the large room. "Since all of you were in the same chuunin exams as me, you will be very familiar with the format of this section. Once again, you will all be taking on an opponent, and the winner will advance to the finals. The matches will still be randomly selected."

That was just great, even with just the eight of us the odds of me and Ino going against each other were rather poor. I really wanted this chance of a rematch. I wanted this chance to prove once and for all that I was better than her. Our rematch was long overdue.

"So without and delay we're going to get started." Shikamaru started to make his way to the center of the room. Apparently he was going to judge the matches as well.

"What about the other teams? There were a lot of people taking the exams." Kiba spoke up, he obviously hadn't been paying attention very well, it had been stated at one point that only the first two teams to make it would advance to the second portion of the exam.

"No, it's just the two teams here. Start the matches." He cued to someone working the screen. The all to familiar monitor started displaying our names, they continued to randomize for several moments. Finally they stopped, Sasuke stepped forward, he was first again. That didn't seem very random to me.

"Uchiha Sasuke against...Aburame Shino!" Shino and Sasuke both advanced towards the center. In actuality out of everyone in the room, Shino likely had the highest chance of victory, his styled was...unique to say the least. If he could draw the fight out he had a chance, Sasuke's stamina was rather poor all things considered.

"Now obviously, you are not permitted to kill your opponent, or permanently injure them either. This obviously means no jutsu ranked A or S are permitted. It would be a real drag to habe to clean this place up." Shikamaru was only looking at Sasuke when he talked. Shino didn't really have any destructive techniques like Sasuke did. He was more subtle in the way he did things. Though against the sharingan, subtle was like fishing with explosive tags. Still Shino was smart and not to be underestimated.

"Begin!" Shikamaru made a quick leap as far back as he could. Though neither Sasuke nor Shino moved a muscle. From what I knew of Shino's techniques he didn't have to. I noticed Sasuke's sharingan was activated, he was just observing him for the moment.

Sasuke made the first move, in a blinding move he was instantly behind him, Shino didn't so much as flinch, even as a firm kick met him. To my surprise the kick just went through Shino's body. The split portions of the body split into two new Shino's. He was making a play on the shadow clone.

"Insect clones." I whispered to myself. The trick wouldn't phase Sasuke for long though. He readied a jutsu, from the look of his hand seal he was going to use some sort of fire release. Shino must have sensed that as well. The clones dissipated into a swarm that assaulted towards Sasuke. A cloud of fire erupted in front of Sasuke, small pops could be heard filling the air, even over the roar of the flame.

The blaze stopped, Sasuke seemed slightly more tired than he should have from one fireball. Then again even I knew what had happened. Shino had exploited one of the few weaknesses Sasuke had. His lack of chakra. Even with the sharingan I doubted he could keep up with the hundreds of thousands of tiny bugs that filled the small arena, and that opening kick likely covered his legs in them. Shino had the upper hand and things had just gotten underway.

"Now you can see my trump card." A swarm of bugs formed a new Shino, was this some sort of new technique he had learned. It seemed incredibly advanced. Sasuke stood still, I could see his mind calmly working a win out.

Shino had a small advatage over the sharingan here. He didn't need hand signs, nor did he need to ever physically strike a blow in person. The one standing in the middle of the room might not even be the real one. I needed to watch this in case it came into play again later. I couldn't imagine Sasuke losing here though.

"You may only win this because of the handicap I have right now." Was Sasuke admitting that he was about to lose?

"I don't think that is so." More swarms formed into bodies around Sasuke, surrounding him. Sasuke drew his chokuto. That made sense, since he couldn't afford to physically touch the bodies. Though cutting them in half likely wouldn't do any good, insect clones didn't go away from damage, they just reformed. Then he did something I hadn't ever seen him do before. His blade started to glow red, I could see the heat seeping off of it. It was similar to him running a chidori down his blade, he intended to kill the bugs without expending too much chakra.

"You've already lost, you should concede your defeat." voices rang from all the different bodies.

"We'll see about that." Sasuke charged one of the bodies, making a striking move into the side of it, not even a fatal blow against a clone. "I know which one of you is real." The sword went through his side, the heat would have seared the wound shut to stop the bleeding. That didn't stop his clones however they made their move, shattering apart before reaching Sasuke, covering over him. He was going to have to take a few showers before I would touch him again.

The mound collapsed Sasuke to the ground, he should be out of chakra at this point. It was the same technique that he had used on Madara all those years ago, just with a new way of implementing it. Shino managed to pull the blade out and stand, cluching his side. Medically speaking he would be fine, but I was all to aware of what being pierced through felt like, and I had a scar to prove it.

Shino called the bugs back, slowly the dark cloud around Sasuke disappeared from view.

"It was a good effort." A medical team came to retrieve Sasuke, though uninjured he would be out for a few days, while recovering a near complete loss of chakra. Still it couldn't believe that Shino had managed a win, he may have even been able to pull it off without the handicap that Sasuke did technically have. Still Shino apparently had several new tricks up his sleeve.

"The winner is Aburame Shino." Shikamaru made the official announcement. Ino and her team we applauding from across the room.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." In a blink the scene of the room changed, Shino still bore the stab wound but Sasuke seemed untouched. When did he have time to put everyone in the room under a genjutsu? I bet we had all looked at his sharingan at one point during the begginning of the match. Most had never seen it before, or hadn't seen it in some time. I wasn't usually the one to fall for genjutsu though. Was he attempting to show off for some reason. I had to admit it was a dream of mine for him to do that for me, but that was all in my head. A much more likely scenario was that he didn't want any interference from the others in the room.

Sasuke walked away from Shino, for a moment I thought I saw a smug look on his face. A small victory like this wasn't the type of thing he ever took pride in. Maybe the look was something else entirely. Just like in the genjutsu that Sasuke had cast a medical team came to retrieve Shino, the wound was different however, it was just a regular stab wound. A small pool of blood was starting to form around him. The sight of blood always made me twinge a little. I was a little upset that he had actually bothered to stab him, when he could have won otherwise. I guess he still had a little trouble holding completely back. Years of having a warped personality did that, however pondering over all of that again wouldn't do any good. However our team had won the first match without too much incident.

"Never mind." Shikamaru was yawning, the guy had no sense of etiquette. "The winner is Uchiha, Sasuke." Our team remained silent as he walked up the stairs back towards us, taking a moment to wipe the blood off of his blade. I would scold him later, but I was too anxious at the moment. I wanted to be next, and I wanted the pigs precious hair as a trophy.

Shikamaru notioned to the screen and once again names began to scroll. I held my breath this had to be it. I could beat Choji with my eyes closed, so I wansn't worried about fighting him. Lee on the other hand, if he could somehow bring himself to hit me, would win without even trying. He was far to fast for me, I would never be able to hit him, or even get close. Even the Chidori stream would be a dwindling hope against his speed. I felt sorry for whoever got pitted against him.

"Haruno Sakura." My heart skipped a beat as the other side continued to scroll. Would this be it? "Against..." I could only hope it would be my chance.

"Yamanaka, Ino!" I wanted to scream out in excitement, but I kept my cool. Ino was apparently attempting to do the same, but I could see it in her eyes, even from all the way over here. We both made are way to the center of the room as fast, and as calmly as possible. I could barely contain my excitement at the moment. I couldn't sully her look. She was still my friend though, but for however long this fight would last, that meant nothing. I was sure that she was thinking the exact same thing. Who knew what she had planned for this.

"Can I get a word with you two first?" Shikamaru, motioned us closer together and leaned in. "I had this one arranged, so try and make it worth my while." I didn't suspect any less from Shikamaru, Ino had probably done god knows what to get him to do it. That was a bad line of thought at the moment. I needed to focus.

"Begin!" Our eyes locked. This was it.

**Authors notes: **Due to the apparent...outrage of Sasuke's loss I've decided to change the ending of this chapter. It's longer now, and as you can tell obviously doesn't contain the cliffhanger.

Also, REVIEW. The button is right below this.


	19. And the winner is?

**Authors notes:** Ow, sunburn... Seriously though, don't go to a swimming party thingy when it's 104 out...it seems nice at the time, then you wake up the next day all sore and in pain. The crap part is, is that I never get sunburned.

OK, so it's FINALLY HERE!...the fight that I have been putting off for a while now. INO versus SAKURA!...yeah never again.

**Disclaimer:** These characters and the universe they belong to, are not mine. If they were there would be a lot more sex on the show. *cough cough* anyhoo...

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><p>This fight was a long time in the making, both of us had improved our skills considerably in the last several years, and now we could solve the issue of which one of us was truly better than the other. She didn't look like she was going to make the first move, I was passively gathering chakra into my fists and feet. If she hit me with one of her mind jutsu's it would be over. She lacked the natural chakra control I had to match my destructive power, but she was smart, and even she could figure out how my trick worked.<p>

I made a quick recount of my training, medical training was it, aside from being able to smash things into pieces, which wouldn't help it I couldn't hit her. Sasuke training was sure to come into play if she decided that she was going to make her move. That was dependent on the fact that she got close enough.

I decided to make the first move. She was likely just waiting for me to do the same. I made a few swings in her direction, but like me she was an avid dodger, if this came down to a fist fight it would just be a battle of who could manage to hit the other first. Tsunade had driven that philosophy into me firsthand, to the point of it becoming second nature.

Ino was successfully dodging everything that I was throwing her way, with good reason, I wasn't holding back any at all. One hit would be close to lethal. I wasn't worried about breaking anything. At this point I wished I was more like Sasuke, and able to use chidori without the use of hand signs, any attempt to use one right now would do nothing but make an opening for her. I would have to hide it from her at the opportune moment.

Her face was smug as she dodged my attacks. It was like she was just toying with me. That only made me want to hit her even more, but I couldn't afford to let her get in my head like that, it was exactly what she was trying to do.

I made another punch more towards her center, then in a flash she disappeared. Too fast for what I knew Ino was capable of, before today at least. She had been doing some training as well. I could barely keep up with her movements. Apparently Lee had been giving her a few pointers. Her speed was nowhere near his of course, that would take years, even for someone like her to acquire. My eyes strained to piece together the blurry movements that were headed towards me. This was a decent chance to hit her with the chidori stream, assuming I could manage to pull it off.

I ran through the first few hand signs, but with only one left to go her fist made contact with my shoulder. Spinning me to the ground. Even while still falling I could tell that she had dislocated it. She was a medical ninja as well. She wanted to slow me down for a drawn out victory. As if I would let her have the satisfaction. Medical jutsu would only help with the pain afterward, but not for the pain of popping it back into place. I gritted my teeth before doing what had to be done. I didn't have time to soak in the pain, her next attack was coming up. I stomped the ground. Using chakra in my feet to do the same thing was still relatively new to me, but in the end the concept was no different than with my fists. The rumble made her lose her footing, I figured she would still be a little awkward in her footing and I was correct. The pieces of floor flying around would do nicely for my next move.

I punched at the rocks in her direction in a flurry, a few of them merely disintegrated at the impact but a few launched her direction while she struggle to stay standing. The sheer shock of those kicks did come in handy. She attempted to dodge the shattered segments of floor to some avail. One piece grazed her arm causing blood to pour out.

"Not bad,not bad." The fight paused for the moment. She applied her ninjutsu against the wound. I had managed to strike an artery. She had no choice but to heal it, left untreated she would have bled out in minutes. Even in just the last few moments she had lost enough blood had managed to cover a large portion of her arm.

I looked up to see Sasuke, the look on his face said it all. "_Why are you looking at me when you should be taking her out."_ My inner Sasuke voice was right. I stamped the ground again, causing the ground to shake. I propelled off the blast in her direction, fist charged. There wouldn't be any dodging it, not completely at least, the best she could hope for would be a graze, but even that would result in something broken.

The look on her face, knowing that she was screwed was priceless. Still that didn't deter her from attempting to avoid my blow. She only had a split second to decide on her move. What she ended up doing wasn't what I expected, and didn't bode well for me in the least. She was opting for self destruction, at the cost of injuring me as well. Neither one of us would be able to dodge, I would hit her as long as I could keep my focus. The shurikens she threw dug their way into me at various points, but one in particular really hit its mark. It burrowed its way in between my knuckles. I was forced to stop, if I punched her now it would shear my hand in half. I stopped the punch and turned it into a kick, not nearly as strong though, but enough to send her reeling back a few feet.

I glared at her as I dug the metal from my hand, throwing it at her to give me a moment to pull the others out. She dodged it easily, I didn't expect to hit her in the first place. The distraction did it's job though. A few spurts of blood flew off staining the floor, but it was inconsequential. That amount of blood loss wouldn't slow me down in the slightest.

Ino was applying some light healing to her rib area where I had managed to kick her. Clearly I had broken a rib or two. Still it was time to get a strategy together, chakra wise we were both still in the green, though the healing that Ino was doing would quickly take its toll. The ribs had to be healed, she couldn't risk a lung puncture in the middle of a fight. She knew that. So at the moment I had a slight upper hand. I needed her to think that she had it.

I would make an opening for her to take advantage of, the only thing was that I needed to be able to perform the signs without her seeing. That was becoming a big drawback for me. I needed to improve my speed with them.

A smokescreen would be perfect though, I grabbed a kunai and smoke bomb with one hand. I threw the kunai at her. Hopefully she wouldn't notice the fact that I had grabbed the second object. She stopped her healing to dodge the kunai, and then proceeded to make a run at me. I dropped the ball, in a second it exploded softly around me. I started the signs and released as soon as I could manage. It would be close, and this whole fight likely counted on the fact that she was within a few meters of me.

The white smoke erupted into blue. A small scream of pain was barely audible to me over the sound of the air chirping from the electricity. It was all the mental reward I could ever need, I had her now. The sound of her hitting the ground signaled that I could end the technique. The smoke returned to its natural color. I just needed to locate her in the mess of it. I only had a few moments tops, it wouldn't keep her down for terribly long. She had to be within a few meters in front of me, I took a few quick steps forward, but found nothing.

A quick slicing sounds ripped its way through the air and my shoulder. The cut was deep, into the muscle. I gritted my teeth in pain, I thought that I had her, how did she get past it.

"I knew that's what you were trying to do, I saw you training before the exams." Damn her, she knew what I was trying to do all along. "You might as well concede, I've pretty much won this one. That should wound is going to make your arm pretty much useless for a while."

The smoke started to clear a little, Ino stood beside me tanto ready to strike again if necessary. I was badly injured, worn out from the jutsu, and already in striking distance.

"The winner is Yamanaka Ino." Shikamaru's voice cut through the air.

"No! I'm no done yet." I had a feeling though that my protests were falling on deaf ears. I wanted more, but I already knew where Shikamaru was coming from. In reality Ino could kill me in a instant if she wanted to.

"There's no sense in bloodying yourself up anymore. It was a good fight, now go get that shoulder looked at." I took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm myself, but it was futile. I was upset over the loss. If she hadn't essentially cheated, I would have won that fight. I grumbled to myself as I headed away, applying pressure to the wound that was now seeping blood down my arm. I had to look like total shit. Though Ino did as well, so that made me feel minutely better. A few nurses I recognized came up to me with emergency supplies in hand. I looked up to see Sasuke, I could only imagine the disappointed look that had to be on his face.

Instead I was greeting by something unexpected. He looked...reassuring. I could practically hear him saying _"You did good, don't get to down on yourself."_ I knew he likely wanted to drop out at this point. After all he was only here in the first place for me. Whether or not he participated in the finals was another matter entirely, assuming there was such an event.

Despite the pain, I smiled up at Sasuke in an attempt to thank him. The nurses then started to whisk me away. He just stood there silently eyes locked until I could no longer see them.

I let myself collapse into the bed that they had prepared, my mind was still replaying the battle over and over again as they tended to my shoulder and various other wounds from the shuriken. They would all heal on their own over time. The only one that needed any real treatment was my shoulder it would be nearly a month before I could do any real work with it. So I was going to have plenty of time to mope over what had just happened.

At least now I had someone to mope with, someone who I knew actually cared. Someone who was starting to show it more and more. Despite the loss, things were really starting to look up.

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><p><strong>Authors notes:<strong> So there you have it the Sakura-Ino fight...and omg you better not whine about her losing. I assure you, she lost FOR A REASON. It will come up later...so don't go freaking flaming me over it or I wont update for a month...I'll just write an **outrageously long** chapter.

So, review, buttons right below this.


	20. You're what?

**Authors notes: **So wow, the feedback on that last chapter was rather...diversified.

In a nutshell they broke down like this, "Theres no way Sakura could ever lose, she trained under Tsunade! Blah blah blah more uber Sakura rants."

Then there was the one person on this site Ezio Uchiha(sorry if I spell that wrong)

"You know, after you had Sasuke win I had a feeling you'd have Sakura lose. It's also a good way for those two to get closer so kudos to you! Btw I won't freak out about Sakura losing because it is very realistic for her to lose to Ino while Sasuke losing to Shino just doesn't seem plausible. Anyways, great job! Please don't take a month to update! "

I promise I wont take a month to update...ok so I took a long time to update (edited a while later)...so I have to apologize here, I got caught up in a few things for a while (Namely KOTOR2 and season 5 of supernatural)...cough*

That being said here is my thoughts on some of you peoples comments.

I can think of 1000 ways that Sakura could lose to Ino and I just wrote one. Get off your Sakura high horse. She has her moments, but overall is still pretty meh.

To all the people who said "Sakura is soooo strong...no Sakura is incredibly average at best. She has two sets of skills...not what I would call strong exactly.

To the one who said Ino trained under Sakura...(ouch it was annee (your still my favorite) I'm sorry but**that is wrong**. Both Ino and Sakura trained under Tsunade and have similar training.

To all those people who think that she is always super physically strong. I highly suggest that you actually read Naruto before trying to make seemingly informed comments...

I seriously wonder if half my readers have even read Naruto or watched the show (And no their disgusting fillers don't count)

That is all...now that I ran off some readers...

Oh another fun fact, that I need to mention again in my next chapter is. I have a kid, so trust me i know what I'm writing about here coming up soon.

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><p>I found myself a little upset that she had lost, but Ino had clearly managed to gain the upper-hand. In a world of deceit and trickery Ino had done well, gathering information on her target beforehand. Nonetheless it was a good fight on her part. I figured it was the end of the road for our team. Kiba would likely go on, and Hinata moving on would just depend on her match up. I wasn't going to stick around and watch though. I slipped out while the others were still staring at the screen. Even if they did notice, they would get why I left.<p>

The building was a maze, there weren't any windows, or any clues to give a sense of direction in the large tower. Luckily a few well placed signs guided me to the hospital wing. It wasn't to far away from the arena, I could faintly hear the sounds of a beginning to take place.

It took me a few tries to find Sakura's room. The first one I looked at contained a resting Shino, he looked up to see me as I looked in, I just stared blankly as I continued on. Sakura was staring off into space when I finally found her. Despite her injuries, and her loss, she was smiling contently about something. As to what I could only imagine. I interrupted her thoughts as I walked in. The wound on her shoulder was now covered with a fresh layer of gauze.

"How are you holding up?

"Alright, my shoulder is killing me, but I've had a lot worse before." I sat down in the chair next to the bed. Standing there above her was starting to make me feel more awkward than usual. "I'm pretty upset about losing though, I thought I had her there."

"You can always get a rematch though, I can teach you a few new things. Like speed for example." I smirked at her. She made a small smile back. She could dodge well, but she had next to no real speed. That fight really showed it. Ino was moving turtle speed compared to me, and I could easily follow her without the sharingan. Sakura on the other hand seemed to struggle with the idea of a fast opponent. She did have an interesting way of dealing with it though, but that wouldn't fool someone experienced like me.

"You may have a point." She sighed. At least she saw that she had many areas to improve on.

"Gentjutsu too, Kakashi always said that it was your type, have you ever tried that ?"

"No...You're doing a fantastic job of pointing out everything that I suck at." I was having a hard time determining whether she was being sarcastic. It was never something that I excelled at. "I'm just messing with you."

"Oh, good. You had me worried there for a moment." I had been back a while now, and to some level I had been able to open up a little, but I still had a hard time finding out what was normal with people. Even with Sakura, despite the amount of time we spent together. It would take years in all likelihood. I wondered if I would even be here that long. Every now and then I still considered abandoning this whole endeavor. There were other people who could bear just as strong offspring. I still had to forcibly shake those thoughts away though.

"You're hopeless" She laughed at me a little. I didn't care to be laughed at, but for her I could let it go.

"Yeah...So when do you think that you can leave here?" She pondered it over for a few moments, but the look on her face told me that it wasn't going to be a particularly large number.

"It's not bad maybe just a another day or two, but in all honestly I could take care of it myself, but you know they are. She said they like she wasn't one of them. She would have me wait here a few days too, if the situation was reversed and she was in charge. There was a lot of bureaucracy in hospital work, it seemed you spent more time filing paper work than actually healing in my opinion. Luckily that was something I hadn't had to deal with, but Sakura liked to go on about it at times.

"That's good, I can't wait to get out of this place." I slumped more into the chair. I figured I might as well stay with her for the night. I figured it would bode well for me. My old instinct would have been to leave her alone for the night, but in some sense we were a couple now. Though I hadn't actually made anything formal or official out of it yet. I should probably do that soon.

"You don't have to stay here for the night if you don't want to. Go watch the matches or something, I'll be fine." On the face of it her words sounded sincere, but I knew that she really wanted me to stay. It would probably be a dull night of conversation, which mainly involved me listening to her stories. Which I didn't mind, I was much more of a listener than a talker anyways.

"It's fine, I'll stay." A slight rumble on the floor likely just signaled the end of one of the matches. "I really don't mind at all."

XXXXXXX

It had been two days since my match with Ino. Getting back home though was a nice relief from the chilled air of the hospital room. I could only take the cold so much. Sasuke had barely left the room the whole time that I was there. It was a rather nice gesture on his part. My shoulder was still sore, and now with the help of a few healing sessions resembled a bad scratch. Still to swift of a shoulder muscle would cause pain to shoot up my arm.

Regardless though things would finally start to return to our strange sense of normality. If we could even call Sasuke being back here normal. I hadn't given it much thought over the last few weeks, I wasn't really given a chance to. Even now he insisted that my training continue. First off would be my speed. I would have to learn it from the ground up, he was fortunate enough to just be able to copy it from Lee.

At some point I wished that Sasuke would stop thinking about my training. I appreciated the thought, but in truth part of the reason that I continued on being a ninja was for him. Then I continued to pursue him. Maybe now I could find some time to just focus on what I truly loved, being a medical ninja. Sadly though that would always include being on the battlefield. It seemed in some ways I decided my future long ago.

"So, are you going to continue the exams?" It was something that I really hadn't gotten a chance to talk to him about. So naturally I was curious as to what he would do in the end. It wasn't like he was being forced to partake in them in the first place.

"Yeah, we could use the income increase that's for sure." He was noting the state of our home. After Naruto's little outburst and years of neglect it had seen better days. It was something that I hadn't really noticed until he started pointing things out to me. I had never been much of a home keeper myself, being gone all the time did that to a person. Now I finally understood what Ino was always going crazy about.

"I figured you would quit.." I stuffed another mouthful of ramen into my mouth. For once I didn't care what I was eating I just wanted something fast. This must be how Naruto feels about food all the time. Though now he was always too busy to be picky, and that I didn't envy.

"I thought I would for a while too, but I might as well make the best of everything." I put down my ramen, for some reason it was just making me feel even sicker. For the last few days my stomach had been slightly upset. I figured I just picked up something in that damned forest.

"You don't look to well." That was just great. Even Sasuke could tell I was feeling ill. One thing I hated above all else was being sick. Though even as he said that I could feel my stomach about to lose what little breakfast I had eaten. Which was just great, I had just been treated to breakfast in bed and now I was having to make a run for the bathroom.

XXXXXXXX

I hated when people got sick, especially around me. Though Sakura being sick was just ironic. I had almost made the deadly mistake of laughing as she ran for the bathroom. Whatever it was though I just hoped it wasn't contagious, I had kissed her earlier when she woke up, but even then I could tell she wasn't quite one-hundred percent.

"Are you alright." It was such a stupid question on the face of it, she was clearly not alright. Though it felt like the most natural thing to ask.

"I don't know, I might need to go get checked out." The sound of the toilet flushing was followed by Sakura standing in the doorway clutching her stomach. I personally wasn't looking forward to going back to the hospital, and I knew that she had to be even less enthusiastic about it, but it didn't look like I had a choice. I grabbed her hand and led her out. The hospital was a decent way for people who didn't want to run there.

"I can carry you if you want me to." Though I figured that all the bouncing around from being carried wouldn't help her feel any less sick. Naturally she declined my offer, which led to an excruciatingly long walk to the hospital. I was forced to wait in the waiting room while they checked her in. A few people in the hospital gave me some rather unwarranted looks, but I was pretty used to ignoring them my whole life. Rarely had anyone just looked at me for no reason, everyone always had something to whisper about me though. I had learned to ignore them all long ago.

A few hours seemed to pass by before Sakura came out of the double doors with a rather blank expression on her face. She made her way silently past me and out the door. Which wasn't the reaction that I was expecting in the least. I got up to trail after her. She was always easy to spot in a crowd, even though she had only a few seconds on me. She was headed home, and her speed suggested that she was feeling a little better.

I followed her home, she completely ignored me the whole way home, despite several attempts to get her to say something. She would just glance at me with a look of uncertainty. Whatever news she got was clearly the most shocking thing that anyone had ever told her, and now it was making me nervous. It was like someone told her that she had some type of incurable disease and that she didn't have long to live. That was the kind of looks she was throwing me.

She made her way into the house and just fell onto the couch face first and mumbled something incoherently into the cushion.

"What?"

"I'm...pregnant." If I didn't know any better I could have swore that my heart literally skipped a beat.

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><p>Authors notes: A short chapter, but an important one nonetheless. So yeah, I am once again back to updating this one. So now that I have beaten KOTOR2 and finished watching Supernatural I can continue on uninterrupted.<p> 


	21. I'm Taken

**Authors notes:** To Annee my most beloved reviewer, that's right the rest of you are slackers. I don't think you caught my brief edit to my last chapter, but I do in fact know all about crazy pregnancy hormonal madness because I have a kid...

**Actual Authors notes:** So who wants to be my 100th reviewer? Eh eh? I figured I would have hit that by now, you know?

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

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><p>There were several moment in my life that I could think of, where time had seemed to just stop in one moment. This was one of those moments. I knew that my sole purpose in coming here was for this very reason, but I found myself thinking that it was far to soon to have children. So much about the future was still up in the air, whether or not living in Konoha would be permanent or not. Even my allegiance here wasn't even self confirmed. My sense of self lately had been thoroughly destroyed, and now to top everything off, we had a kid on a way. The only thing that was certain was that I now knew that this news was far to early.<p>

"Say something." My spell of thoughts was instantly broken, but I was once again trying to find m way through foreign territory. My silence on the matter was clearly making her upset, but for the life of me I couldn't think of what to say.

"We can do this." That was the first thing that popped into my mind. I reassured her with a nod and climbed onto the couch with her, pulling her into me. After a few moments I became aware of her silent crying. I could tell that she had to be thinking roughly the same things that I was. We didn't have a choice now, but to tackle the situation head on. Having a kid though wasn't the end of the world. Many people had done it before us, and we were far better off than some. It was just the initial shock that would need to wear off first.

It didn't take long for her to fall asleep lying in my lap, the wet mark on my pants had long dried, while I sat there in thought. There was so much to prepare for, and yet I didn't want to get ahead of myself. Nine months was a long time, but I knew that it would be over before I knew it, and that was what got to me. Years had a way of flying by lately.

A few hours passed by rather quickly and soon my stomach growling for food woke Sakura up from her crying induced nap.

"Hungry?" She laughed at the noise. It was good to hear her laugh at something after our recent bout. Hopefully her mood didn't change. "Let's go eat somewhere. I need to get out of the house." I felt the same way, somehow the walls just seemed to be very confining. Even though the house was rather large and spacious.

"Definitely." She grabbed my hand and helped me up off the couch, even though I didn't need it. I soon found it just to be a pretext to grab my hand though. They never came apart until we reached the restaurant. The air in general had just changed around us. If I was forced to put a word on it, it would be happy. Which was an odd feeling considering the overall circumstances. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all.

"So who should we tell first?" That was a question that I had been dreading for some time. I was sure whoever she ended up telling first would end up blabbing it to everyone in sight. figured personally didn't have people to tell. Which for a moment brought up some dark thoughts, but I quickly ignored them. Sakura herself had more than enough friends for the both of us. Though I already knew who she wanted to tell first, though considering her recent loss to her that might not be the case. The two had a past about as complicated as mine and Naruto's. A dysfunctional friendship on a good day.

"I don't really care." It was true, and I tried my hardest not to sound like a dick when saying it, but at times I figured everything that came out of my mouth sounded like that. Luckily she didn't seem to take any offense to my words.

"Tell who what?" The voice alone made me want to leave. I apparently had rotten enough luck for my dysfunctional friend to show up. Now I knew who we were telling first. If he hadn't already been informed. He was the Hokage after all, and I could only imagine that the news that one of his best medical ninjas was now impregnated by the last of the Uchiha clan. I could just picture the headlines. I could also imagine that there would be a few people who wouldn't be pleased. I didn't need to bother with them though.

I watched Sakura's mouth start to open with words that would likely lead to an obnoxious congratulatory slap on the back. Mentally I braced myself.

"I'm pregnant! I just found out today." Sakura was clearly excited about it. Though I was sure that deep down she was dreading the future a little, but if she wanted to play happy that was fine. Naruto gave Sakura a hug, but not before the congratulations that I knew he would give me. The action stung, and I had to stop myself from punching him. There was something about the way he did it that told me he was jealous. Though I knew for a fact that he had his chance with her a long time ago. I found it to be slightly cruel of her to come onto him like that. Things would have been way different though if he had just accepted her.

It was crazy to think about how many small decisions had led to the present that we were in. The sheer fact that we were even together in our present circumstance was incredible. We both slept in a bed with someone who a had attempted to kill the other. I was beginning to wonder if I had any friends I hadn't tried to kill at least once. The sad truth was that none were coming to mind. If only there were some sort of reset button to just undo the past. That was all just wishful thinking at best.

Naruto proceeded to order something from the menu. I was surprised that he could even digest something that wasn't ramen. I really didn't mind the fact that he just butted into our dinner. My hours of thinking included thoughts of trying to be a little more...tolerant, of Naruto. He had his moments still.

"Say where's Hinata, I figured you would have brought her with you, since you apparently have some free time."

"Yeah running a village is a pain, but it's totally worth it. Though you're right let me go get her. Give me a second." The show-off literally meant a second. He flipped on of his strange kunai in the air, it hung briefly in the air for just a moment before an outstretched hand caught it again. If one had blinked they would have missed the action all together. Now another person was with him, the girl I hadn't seen for just a few brief days. She was looking to be in much better spirits despite the fact that she looked like she wanted to throw up from being teleported through a space time jutsu. It took her a moment to even realize that she had moved. Naruto could have at least gave her a warning. If he ever did that to me, I would stick that kunai somewhere that he would be in absolutely no hurry to get to.

"We're back!" I could see Hinata almost smack Naruto for a moment but restrain herself. Apparently she didn't care for his madness all the time either. I had to admit that I was slightly amused at her display. It was just good to know that I wasn't the only one.

"So Hinata, guess what Sakura's pregnant!" One day she was going to have to teach him some social skills. I knew that she had them. She was always quiet and never imposed to much. I was beginning to think that maybe they balanced each other just perfectly. I glanced over st Sakura, who I could tell wasn't happy with the fact that Naruto was just telling people. I wasn't sure about Hinata and Sakura's relationship. I never imagined them being friends. They came off as co-workers who just got along with each other.

This all led to an awkward pause that left Hinata frozen in the spotlight. I guess the other were waiting on her reaction. Though in some respect she was like me and didn't really know how to respond. She just sat across the table silently. Though with a distinct smile on her face.

The dinner continued on without her response, until after what seemed like an eternity we finally left to go our separate ways. I didn't really care where the other two went, so long as we could have some decent quiet time between the two of us. Naruto's loud mouth had literally given me a headache and I really just wanted to sit or lay down somewhere. We headed home as the sun started to set, walking close together. The cold evening air was just a signal that winter was on its way. Still the lingering warmth from the inside of the house was a nice adjustment.

I led Sakura to the couch and lay down on it with her. There wasn't much room, but our bodies were still cold from the air outside, so neither of us were about to complain. I reached up behind me and grabbed the remote off the top of the couch where Sakura liked to store it. I clicked on the television, something that I figured she was going to have a lot more time for rather soon. I still didn't care much for watching it, but nonetheless I flipped around the channels till she told me to stop on a particular channel. It was some type of movie. I placed the remote back in its usual spot before wrapping my arm around her.

The movie seemed like it was straight out of one of Kakashi's book, and sure enough it was the movie adaptation of the book. I was unfortunate enough to not find that out until the end. Which I had somehow forced myself to watch. I hadn't even noticed that Sakura had fallen asleep, or how late that it actually was. I slipped off the couch as carefully as possible and headed for the kitchen. My throat was rather dry at this point. I downed a glass of water and went to flip off the lights.

I made my way silently to Sakura's side, from the light from the television I could see the content smile on her face. I bent down and picked her up as slowly as I could manage and breathed a small sigh of relief after I was sure that she hadn't woken up. I carried her to the bedroom and put her down on the bed. I grabbed a towel, after the whole day I needed a shower. I covered Sakura up with the blankets before I left the room. I left the door cracked so it wouldn't creak on my way back in.

The hot water was surprisingly pleasant despite the fact that I was rather warmed up from Sakura's excess body heat on the couch. After getting dry and dressed I headed back into the room. Only to find it empty. I figured she must have gone to get a drink. I waited a few minutes in the bed, but still she never came back. Something in the back of my mind was pushing its way forward. She wasn't in the house. I shot out of bed and quickly checked all the rooms and sure enough she wasn't anywhere in the house. She most certainly wouldn't have left on her own without saying something. That wasn't like her in the least. Someone had managed to take her while I was in the shower.

I burst out the door, but had no idea where to look. Anyone could have taken her anywhere by now. I was going to need help if I was going to find her, and I happened to know the best sensor in all of Konoha. Though I really didn't want to talk to her, hell I didn't even know if she would even be willing to help me in the first place. Though she was my best shot to find Sakura, and no one could hide from her. I ran back inside the house and grabbed my equipment and got ready for a fight. Whenever I found the ones responsible for this, they would be dead.


	22. Misunderstanding

**Authors Comments:** Well I feel really dumb, I totally forgot to upload one a chapter that I had written a while back, which is why the story kind of...jumps...i was writing it when my laptop died, and I guess it kinds slipped my mind. It's been three months...I had it saved on a flash drive and kind of lost it.

This is "**THE LOST CHAPTER"**

**Disclaimer:** I Don't own Naruto. Simple as that.

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><p>I awoke to the strong florescent lights that I was all to familiar with. I sat up straight wondering how I managed to wake up in the hospital. The last thing that I could recall was going to sleep while Sasuke was in the shower. For now though, my stomach felt rather queasy.<p>

"Sorry to wake you, I didn't think that you would be in bed so soon." It was a familiar voice that I hadn't heard in too long. I hadn't seen or even heard any news of Tsunade in some time. She left after Naruto had taken over her duties. She apparently had a lot of money to go blow through. Her luck had improved apparently. "So I heard that you have some big news. Seems like a lot has gone on since I've been away. Wouldn't you say so?"

"How did I get here?"

"A reverse summoning, you should be familiar with it, Naruto does them all the time."

"Is that why my stomach feels so awful?"

"There can be a few side effects, the nausea should subside shortly."

"So did you come all the way here because you heard I was pregnant?"

"That, and I'm a little concerned about who the father is, I heard some odd rumors." She put on a serious face. She clearly didn't approve of Sasuke. "He's dangerous Sakura, you know that more than anyone."

"He was, he's changed a lot since he's been back."

"In my experience Sakura, people never change. No matter what he comes off to be, you should never let your guard down. Some part of him will always be unstable." I wanted to say something, but a part of me knew that she was right. It wasn't but a few months ago that he was burning people alive without so much as blinking an eye. I didn't like the idea that I was possibly deluding myself for him. "Now, let me see how you're doing, I want to be your doctor while you go through this. I assume that's alright with you."

Who wouldn't be, she was the most capable doctor in the world. As far as we knew at least. Though I was following close behind myself. I still had a ways to go. She went through a fairly thorough examination before sending me off. She said she would get back to me on the results after a few days to process them. The night air was cool and pleasant. Perfectly nice for the walk home.

"Sakura!" It was Sasuke, moving quickly down the street my direction with Naruto beside him. I had only just begun to wonder what they were doing at this time of night, when it occurred to me. I never got to tell him I was leaving. He must have flipped out pretty bad in order to go ask Naruto for help finding me.

"Where were you." His voice was mixed with genuine concern and a little anger. The latter of which wasn't directed at me. He was still trying to calm down. Though the groggy look on Naruto's face let me know that Sasuke probably had a time and a half trying to get him just to wake up.

"Tsunade brought me to the hospital for a check-up. Sorry, she kind of did it without asking."

"See, I told you." Naruto butted in. "Can I go back to bed now."

"Yes, you idiot." Sasuke and I muttered in unison.

"Come on, let's go home." I grabbed Sasuke by the hand, which made him relax. I could almost feel the tension in him disappear. I was happy though, he came for me.

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><p><strong>Authors Notes:<strong> As mentioned before I kind of lost the original of this chapter. I shortened for now, mostly to plug the big giant hole in the story. This one is on the edit list though. So again sorry about all the trouble. I know that kind of confused a lot of people.

Originally this chapter starts off from Sasuke's prospective, and was never a long chapter to begin with. More or less it just goes to Sasuke getting Naruto to help him find Sakura.


	23. End Of The Beginning

**Authors Notes:** Well people it has been a CRAZY couple months since I've been able to update. Mostly due to the death of my laptop charger, which has been replaced (Thank God). So I thought I would tell you all about where I draw some of the inspiration for the main idea of this story. In a nutshell its all first-hand experience and an odd sort of recant of my actual life. So, stay tuned.

So I may have lost some readers, but I'll get them back. The story should really pick up here. I re-read my last chapter, but it has been a while since I really looked at this story so I apologize ahead of time if I accidentally mess something up.

**Ok, I'm making this update on 1/2/2012.**

So I Didnt realize this when i posted this chapter, but the story kind of jumps as some of you have noticed im sure. When my computer charger died I actually had a chapter ready to be posted, saved on a flash drive. Well I lost said flash drive, and thus that chapter. So please dont freak out because you noticed the story jump, im gonna try and get that missing chapter in there as soon as possible.

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><p>We walked in silence until the sun started to rise. until I finally took her home, carrying her on my back on the way back. Not that she was incapable of walking, she just wanted me to. I didn't mind carrying her. She did chuckle though when I actually agreed to it though, which I thought was a little odd. The whole night had been odd. Luckily a new day was starting.<p>

There was a time where I couldn't even imagine myself carrying a girl around on my shoulders. Romance was something that a shinobi didn't have the luxury of. I wasn't saying that relationships didn't happen. They were discouraged. With good reason. Death was a real possibility, even for people like me or Naruto. Sakura's skills were reasonably within the Jonin range. She was vulnerable from many standpoints.

Her being pregnant was the beginning of something new entirely though. The village itself wasn't really keen on the idea of me being here in the first place. I knew it all to well. Which is why I did my best to keep to the Uchiha Complex, and the training grounds. The way people looked at me made me understand Naruto a little. People used to look at him the same way, sheer disgust. It just made my resolve stronger though. The Uchiha clan would be revived, but with honor this time.

In the end though I would have to disappear with old. I wasn't exactly a shining beacon for my child to look to. Sakura would just insist that I could be though. She would push it endlessly. That was maybe one of the things that made me appreciate her. She had a gift of bringing out a different side of me. It didn't change the present though.

I could protect her and the child. I had a feeling that if I stayed, and swore off my revenge, I would spend the rest of my years guarding them from those who wouldn't want an Uchiha revival. That was a rather long list of people and groups.

"You worry too much." Sakura's whisper into my ear finally broke my thoughts. "I know whats eating you. I had my suspicions in the beginning. Ever since I learned why you came here." Sakura had a great deal of intuition. Who wouldn't be suspicious of me. Even Naruto has his guard up still. He does his best to mask it. He wasn't so good at it when he was drunk out of his skull though. Flinching when I made any type of sudden movement.

"When I came here...I wanted you to have my child so I could take it." Honesty. It's a funny thing. I really was never much of a liar. My intentions were usually rather straight forward. When I wanted something, people knew it. Only in a fight did I truly hide things from people, never showing my hand unless it was a last resort.

Sakura however still hung on my back, unflinching at my comment. It was unnerving. I took it as a good thing. She was thinking things over instead of just flipping out. She said she had her suspicions earlier, I just confirmed them.

"You don't have anything to say to that?"

"No, I know that's not what you're going to do. The way you said it, all past tense. Plus for a shinobi you're a bad liar." She laughed. An odd reaction for the tone of the conversation. I smiled though because it was exactly what I had been thinking just a few minuted before. "You've changed, whether you want to admit it or not. The old you is still lingering, but he's being replaced."

"We're home." I slowly lowered her to the ground and opened the door. Outside the last rays of sunlight were diving into the forest. I led Sakura inside and shut the door behind her.

"Are we going to be alright? Seven months is a long time."

"Yeah, we are." I Assured her. "Let's just try or best not to draw any unnecessary attention to ourselves." Sakura went into the bathroom and ran the shower, but I didn't follow. I had a feeling that she just needed a few minutes to herself. I could respect that. She came back in a hurry and kissed me on the cheek, whispering a quick thanks into my ear, and ran back into the bathroom.

Seven months...Seven months was not a long time. Not to me.

I fell onto the bed closing my eyes to rest while Sakura showered. Listening to the sounds of the water hitting the shower floor. My revenge scheme was over, she had basically made my mind up for me. The person to whom I owed so much, was giving me everything, asking for next to nothing in return. Well one thing in return. Just to stay with her.

I was awakened to Sakura crawling into bed. The room was dark so it was a little hard to make her out. Though it was rather moot since she made her way onto me. Curling up, snuggling her face against my chest. Her skin was still a little warm and moist from the shower. Her wet hair annoyed me a little, but I didn't want to bother her about it. I had never seen anyone so content before. Smiling, using my shoulder as a pillow.

She hadn't bothered getting dressed before crawling into bed. I pulled the blankets over us, trying not to rouse her too much in the process. I kissed her good night before wrapping my arms around her. With a smile on my face I closed my eyes.

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><p><strong>Authors notes: <strong>A really short chapter I know. The next one will be longer though, I've decided to make my chapter length about 50% larger than my normal ones. which will be about 4500-5000 words a chapter. Sorry for this 1500 one.

Now that the holidays are over, except new years in two days, the only thing left is my birthday on January 7th I'll be turning 23.

So now that I have my computer again, merry X-mas to me, there will be regular updates to this story, I promise.

So shoot me some reviews or something, and my next chapter sometime soon.


	24. Separation

**Authors Notes:** Well people, it's time for another chapter**. **Another heads up. IF YOU DO NOT FOLLOW THE MANGA! **!SPOILER ALERT!** You have been warned. My story from this point onward will be fairly up to date so if you aren't...

**Side note: **So I find it kind of odd that Chapter 10 has a little over 1000 hits, Chapter 11 has barely over 900, but for some odd reason Chapter 12 has over 1200...that's weird.

**Disclaimer:** ...I don't own Naruto...

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><p>It had been three months since I told Sasuke that I was pregnant. Something had changed in him that day. He was still fairly quiet and still when on walks alone. He was much more attentive to me now, not as afraid to show that he cared. He was always reserved though, and that would likely never change. I knew he cared though, and that meant the world to me.<p>

He had a mission to go on, and would be gone for a week, two at the most. I wasn't very happy about it. I knew in all honesty that he would be fine, but it was a combat mission, the details of which I wasn't privy too.

Sasuke still was sleeping, though I knew he had already been up for the day. Training in the fields. He didn't like the idea of getting weaker. Though by any standard he was incredibly strong. I had heard that most nations had "Flee on sight" orders. Rightfully so. I knew first hand how dangerous he could truly be.

I headed for the shower. That was still part of my normal routine, but now it included inspecting the baby. Tsunade had sent me some interesting books, and some scrolls with techniques to study. Most of them technology had caught up with, but it was still nice not to have to make a trip to the hospital. My stomach at this point was getting larger. I had begun to wear lose shirts to hide the fact that I was pregnant from most people. Though within the next few months that wasn't going to be a possibility.

The urge to tell people was a nuisance, but avoiding my friends was even worse. I had hardly seen Ino at all since I moved in with Sasuke, Naruto made an occasional drop by. He of course was one of the handful of people who knew about the pregnancy. Sasuke had told him a few days after I told Sasuke.

I decided to tell Ino, I could trust her, despite the fact that she tended to be a bit of a gab. I would just have to tell her how important that I was not to tell anyone just yet. Though I couldn't really think of anyone that she knew who didn't already know. Still I didn't like the idea of her telling just anyone. There were still people who could make an attempt at my life. I would have to wait until Sasuke got back though. I wouldn't be able to defend myself at full ability. Though I supposed that Naruto would always be around. Always keeping a watchful eye over the village, and me.

I cranked up the water a little hotter than usual, mostly to help me relax, Sasuke leaving for a mission had made me a little more stressed than usual. That and the fact that I was stressing out a little more than usual over my looks. I had never considered myself good looking. Especially hanging around Ino so much. Now I felt worse. Though convincing myself that it was just a normal thing that pregnant women felt this way wasn't as easy as it sounded. It was hard not to try and ask Sasuke's opinion on the matter, but I knew he wouldn't have anything to say. He wouldn't know what to say would be a better explanation.

Pressing him on certain issues usually just led to him leaving. Which at times infuriated me a little, but I really couldn't hold it to much against him. He wouldn't argue with me and make things worse, and nearly every time he left I just realized that I was being irrational over something that wasn't worth fighting over to begin with. Hormones were a bitch, it was an amusing thought, but it was true. At times I didn't feel to much in control over the things that were coming out of my mouth. After a while he would come home and we would just laugh about it. It was weird to see him smile, and be happy so much. It was weird to see him smile in particular.

Growing up the closest thing to a smile that he ever put on his face was either before a fight with an opponent he was about to challenge, or while facing someone who put him to the test. Plus the occasional Naruto mocking. I couldn't leave those out. I still hadn't seen him burst out laughing though. Maybe that was still a ways away.

As I climbed out of the shower I could hear him getting ready in the bedroom. His chokuto and other supplies had already been laid out since before I woke up. He never cared for being unprepared. I knew ahead of time he wasn't happy about this mission though. He couldn't tell the details of with who or where. My guess was on the with who. I imagined he likely wanted to go solo, but the elders probably wouldn't allow that.

Despite the amount of time he had been here he was still being followed and watched. Not constantly as far as we could tell, but at least twice a week we would catch a glimpse of someone tailing us. It was a little unnerving at times. Though lately I had grown a little paranoid. Sasuke and I had a few conversations about me having to be careful. That there would be people who would want the baby dead, myself included if it came down to it. Watching my back constantly was something I was sadly used to. Never in my own home though.

I met him in the hallway as he was headed for the living area. He eyed me over, pausing briefly on my breasts, but tried to pass it off as if he didn't. They had grown quite a bit in the last few months. Which for me was exciting, but Sasuke seemed to be indifferent about a girls bust size. A few weeks back Naruto had taken us all drinking, Hinata accompanied him. Naruto had gotten Sasuke to imbibe a little more than Sasuke was used to, which wasn't much since it took quite a bit of coaxing just to get Sasuke to drink in the first place.

Naruto was enjoying Sasuke's overly honest self while he was drunk, getting him to admit various things, and other personal preferences. Most of it I found to be rather amusing. Causing me to let out more laughter that night, than I had in quite some time. It was fun nights like those that really made me think that everything between all of us was going to be OK. Like there was a possibility that things could go back to the way they were. Minus the killing and all of the vengeance.

"You headed out already?" I leaned forward and gave him a kiss, tantalizing the idea that he should stay here with me.

"Yeah, hopefully I can be back soon." He kissed me back before I walked him to the village gates. We stopped for a quick breakfast at a small shop before he headed out of the gates alone. I turned around after he was a fair ways away to find a small group of people staring at me. Various other were too. All of them turned and went back to their conversations as soon as they noticed I was aware of them. Being stared at all of the time, and hearing the whispers about what people thought of us. I supposed Sasuke was used to it, people had been doing it to him his whole life. Ever since his brother was forced to kill his entire clan.

It was something that he wouldn't talk about, even after his big drinking session. Once I had attempted to get him to talk about it. He stormed out as soon as I tried to mention it. It was the only time that he had ever stormed out in anger. It didn't help that I tried to push it. For now though it was a forbidden subject. He would tell me one day, when he was ready.

I headed back home, there wasn't much to do there, but it was away from judgmental eyes. I had started a few home improvement projects since fifteen years of neglect on the house was finally starting to get on my nerves. Sasuke didn't care for the fact that I was working so much all the time, but I needed something to do to keep me sane at the house. The closest thing I had to hospital work was when someone wanted an opinion, or some type of instruction on what to do. To be honest though it was a nice break, for several years now I had basically slaved away for eighteen hours a day on average, only taking a break when going on a mission. Which involved medical work and combat.

I was trying to take all this as some kind of twisted vacation. It wasn't ideal, but it was working. Plus this would be the first time that I would have some real alone time. I wasn't sure if that would be a good or bad thing though. I imagined that the first day would be nice and the rest I would miss him.

A mission at a time like this was not the kind of thing I wanted to be doing. Worst of all with _him._ I had been adjusting pretty well over the last three months. The initial shock of Sakura being pregnant had finally blown over. At times she would just want me to hold her. Which I wasn't against, but for some reason I still felt a little trepidation each time she would ask. Being intimate with her was still something that I was having a little trouble with. It was a thing of pure vulnerability which was something that I had trained myself never to be.

I was finding that no matter how much I tried, my past was inescapable. I did my best not to talk about it. Sakura had tried to bring things up a few times, but I stormed out. Something that probably wasn't the best of ideas. I knew that she just wanted to help. It couldn't be the worst idea though to talk about things. Who knew, maybe it would help me out a little. I wasn't there just yet though.

I had made it a few miles from the village when he showed himself. He had been following me for a while. I figured that he was just testing me. He had done it before. The attack came from my right, not giving me enough time to fully draw my chokuto from its sheath to defend myself, but I didn't need to. It was a kill blow at blinding speed, I knew he wasn't going to hold back either. With the hilt of my chokuto I was able to deflect the kunai away from me, and follow up with a counterattack kick which landed squarely on the side of his face.

I wasn't surprised that it was a shadow clone, Kakashi's first move was never an all out assault. If more attack came they would be clones as well, but no more than two more, he didn't have the chakra to waste.

"I see you haven't gotten rusty in the last couple of months." A statement that wasn't entirely true. It was hard to keep the same level of skill I had without having people to spar against, or chances to actually use my full potential. However, I had some new specialized training that I had been doing. Something new that I had been working on for years, that I had only recently attained.

Kakashi had been out of the hospital for a while now. They had replaced his eye with a new one. Not a sharingan of course, I wouldn't stand for that. That was still my line in the sand. I still had a plan for that eye, if things came down to it.

"Let's get going then." The real Kakashi stepped out of the woods. He was dressed in his ANBU gear, something I had never seen him in before, it suited him well. He had a large bag in hand, one that I knew was for me. It was my own set of gear. Joining the ANBU was one of the more secretive parts of my agreement. Even Sakura wasn't in on it. I had to tell her that this was a regular mission for now. She would find out soon enough though. This mission was above her pay grade. For this mission at least I was going to have to leave her in the dark.

Two others were going to be joining us on this mission. A typical four man squad, I was sure that the other were close by, waiting for us to finish.

"You'll want to change into that first." His tone was a little harsh, but I couldn't really blame him. I was pretty sure he wasn't any more enthralled about going on a mission with me as I was with him, but we would just have to get over it. It was just one mission.

He threw the bag to me, it weighed a little more than I cared for. I wasn't used to wearing armor, my current outfit was loose. After changing I felt a little weighed down. The form fitting vest didn't suit my tastes either. In the bag was another katana, I went ahead and wore it on my back like the others, but still held onto my chokuto. The others showed up just as I finished attaching it to me waist, luckily there was a space for it. One that wasn't on Kakashi's uniform. I guess they figured I would want to keep it. The last two things in the bag were the black cloak that people usually saw ANBU wearing, and the mask. Mine resembled a hawk. I didn't really care what the mask though was, but apparently someone thought it to be appropriate. I put on the mask, it didn't obscure my vision as much as I thought it would. I still didn't care for it either.

Both of the other ANBU members were women. The first had long purple hair, which I found to be an interesting color for someone who was supposed to be an assassin. Though I suppose Naruto wore orange a lot. Though he never assassinated someone before. She kept her distance from me, as if it mattered. I could kill all three of them in an instant if I wanted to. The other didn't seem to be bothered by my presence, which was good since I knew that she was going to be my partner for this mission. We would need to be able to come off as close. If Sakura wasn't pregnant I would have attempted to have her come on this mission. Though by appearance alone she was well known. Her pink hair had made her a little famous.

She was surprisingly well known for he medicinal skills, and was quickly on her way to being as well known as Tsunade. Before my return I had heard stories about her in various small towns that I would stay at. I had always avoided the hidden villages for obvious reasons. She denied her fame to no end though. I always found humility to be an odd trait among people. Maybe she just didn't want to be famous. Though soon she was either going to be actually famous, or infamous. Infamous was looking to be far more likely as of late.

We didn't waste any time before leaving, it would be a three day trip, even at the speed we would be going. Then we would have one day to complete the mission. The time frame was as simple as that. The target would be well guarded. A noble in the Land of Iron. It was another mission that involved taking out a business tycoon with the money to hire a mercenary force. The force consisted mostly of S-rank ninja and apparently some samurai. The level of the latter wasn't really determinable. Needless to say the danger was real. I couldn't rule out the possibility of being beaten. Though I highly doubted it.

Still the man had managed to step on Konoha's toes, and the Land of Iron requested this mission, at a rather high cost. I knew Naruto didn't care for assassinations, but he learned well enough when he became Hokage that violence was necessary at times. He learned the hard way, he droned on about it once, I really didn't pay much attention to it at the time, mostly because I still didn't care to hear his voice any more than I actually had to. I still felt that he was a little naive on the matter.

We traveled for the rest of the day, only stopping for a few minutes at a time. I hadn't done this kind of traveling in a while. I didn't miss it.

We stopped as soon as the sun set. We paired off into two tents. Kakashi went with the purple haired woman's whose name I hadn't learned yet. The other girl came in with me after we finished setting up. The tents were dark, and were actually well camouflaged on the forest floor. I wasn't sure how useful they would be later on. Maybe we wouldn't even be using them at all. I placed all of my gear on my side of the tent. My partner came in locking eyes with me for an instant before starting to set her side up.

She never said anything to me the whole time. I didn't blame her apprehensiveness in talking to me. What was there even to say in the first place? I didn't feel the need to say anything to her, but I could sense that she wanted to say something. I wasn't about to break the ice for her though. I closed me eyes I doubted that I would sleep all that much. I had a lot on my mind. Truth be told I hadn't been sleeping well for a while now. Everything was weighing on me, major life changes had that affect.

"So this is your first ANBU mission right? Your gear doesn't have any scratches or dents, kind of a giveaway for new people. I'm new too." It occurred to me that she had no idea of who I was, of course I had been wearing my mask this entire time. She hadn't seen me without it. Kakashi was also the only person to know the actual names of everyone here. He was the squad leader, and former ANBU. I could only guess as to what his rank in the ANBU was, even after all the years he was out.

"Yeah, this is my first mission." I indulged her question after a few moments. I briefly considered ignoring her the whole night.

"Yeah, I didn't grow up in one of the major villages. There was a man who used to train me who traveled through our small village every so often. What about you?" Under normal circumstances she would be telling me way to much information, but I couldn't rule out the possibility of it all being a lie.

"I actually trained under Kakashi when I was younger." The truth couldn't hurt, but for now I saw no reason to tell her who I actually was. If she really wasn't from Konoha that information would be next to useless. "So we go a ways back. That's probably why he picked me out for this mission."

"That's cool. It must be nice to work with your old teacher."

"Yeah, really nice." I lied, appreciating that mask. It was doing a good job of hiding my facial expression. I took off the mask, watching her for any kind of reaction. If she had one, she did a good job of hiding it. For now though I would assume that she didn't know who I was. Which considering the circumstances was a nice change in pace. Kakashi had warned me ahead of time to avoid letting people know who I was. Which inevitably meant not using my sharingan on this mission, unless it was absolutely necessary.

"We should get some sleep, we have another fun day of travel tomorrow." I couldn't argue with that. I really didn't mind ending the conversation. It wasn't going to lead anywhere. I closed my eyes and did my best not to think about anything at all. It was a little cold outside which was helping. I slept better when I had something to take my mind off of my thoughts.

It had been a long day without Sasuke, I had finished replacing most of the boards on the walkway which had started to rot. The job kept me busy for most of the day, which helped me not to worry so much. I was in the shower, working outside all day so I was in desperate need of one. That's when I heard the knock on the door. I cursed at whoever it was, wondering what someone could possibly need so late in the day. I turned off the water and started to dry myself off as quick as I could.

"Sakura, I know you're there. It's me Naruto." I could hear his muffled shouts coming through the door.

"Hang on a second, I was in the shower." I shouted back. I got dressed I as quick as I could, which wasn't all that easy since I was still fairly damp. I quickly made my way to the door, leaving drops of water on the floor behind me.

"What's up?" Naruto had a big grin on his face, which meant that it was good news for once.

"I have some good news."

"Yeah, I kind of figured that. So what is it?"

"I'm going to be a dad! Hinata is pregnant, isn't it great?"

"That's awesome, congratulations!" I gave him a hug. "Hinata didn't come with you?"

"No, she stayed at home, we're about to go break the news to her family." With that comment his expression changed, but I didn't blame him. I was sure that Hinata's father wasn't going to be as thrilled. He and Naruto still clashed a little. "Well I don't want to keep her waiting, I just wanted you to be the first person to know."

I thanked him before he took off, running down the streets. He was still the kid I knew him to be in a lot of ways, but I didn't blame him for his excitement. He deserved the good news. It was beginning to look like things were up for everyone.

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><p><strong>Authors Comments:<strong> As promised here is a longer chapter (4000 words), also at my typical update speed. 2-3 days. Happy New Years to everyone I might my birthday is this Saturday (I'll be 23. starting to feel old lol), so there might only be one more chapter this week. Who knows though. So I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you noticed any errors let me know, no one beta's this story.

As always, drop a review.


	25. The Protector

**Authors Comments:** Alright, so I temporarily fixed that chapter, at least enough to where it makes sense and doesn't jump from one point to another. I made a few smaller edits to that most of you probably won't notice. Nothing that changes the story, just a few consistency issues.

**Also:** So I really like the 4000 word chapter length. It seems long enough to be a decent read, but not so long as to seem like it goes on forever. But, if you think otherwise I wouldn't mind knowing about it.

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><p>I had forgotten what it was like to wake up in a strange place. still was a stranger waking up next to me. Sleep had eluded me for most of the night. I had most recently woken up only a few minutes earlier. There was still a little time before we actually needed to leave. I laid still, mostly just pretending that I was still asleep, but partly to gain a little information. Gaining intelligence on everyone around me was nothing short of second nature, almost to the point of being involuntary.<p>

I considered the alliance between the great nations to be rather shallow. That was proved enough when Kumo attacked, just to get to me. Though Naruto considered it the ambition of a crazed man. The Raikage did have it out for me. I hadn't yet heard if a new one had been selected yet. The selecting of a new Kage could take some time.

The girl exited then tent, in all likelihood she was just going into the woods to relieve herself. While she was gone I decided to start getting ready, Kakashi was already outside, cooking food on a small fire. Inside his tent I could hear the other woman rustling, apparently getting ready as well.

"Care for some breakfast?" Even through the thin mask he always wore I could see a smile, likely a fake one. I still had a hard time accepting that he hand picked me for this mission. "Might be your only chance to eat for a while."

I accepted his offer. It wasn't like it would tear down the fence between us. As I munched on what appeared to be some kind of squirrel the other new girl came back from out of the forest. I was right about what she went off to do. Though I was more curious as to what ability landed her on this team. Maybe she was some kind of genius. That's how Kakashi got here, it was easy to forget that the sharingan wasn't what made him great. The girl was only a few years younger than me at the most. It was hard to be certain though.

"You two get along last night?" It was a question that could almost be taken the wrong way. It was meant to be innocent though.

"Yeah, just fine." Even though I didn't even learn her name, or what to even call her. She would likely use an alias of some sorts, as would I. Though I could just go by Sasuke, and not give my last name. It was a decently common name after all. "So do you know that woman?" I motioned to his tent.

"You could say we go a ways back." He turned back to look at her as she exited the tent. His answer could have meant any number of things. That was one of the more frustrating things about him, you could never get a straight answer. Even after years of knowing him, neither I nor Sakura knew much about him. We hadn't seen him without the mask as well. Sakura had some rather wild speculations. It had been my understanding that he had worn it ever since he was a young child, maybe something happened to him when he was younger. No one without something to hide wore a mask.

The others joined us for our breakfast after finishing getting ready. The purple haired woman kept throwing nervous glances my way. She had been watching me from behind yesterday while we were in formation. I wondered if she was intimidated by my presence. It was pretty clear that she knew who I was. She was around Kakashi's age, everyone older than me knew my face well. I was officially last Uchiha, for now at least.

After we finished packing the campsite up we headed off. It would likely be a uneventful day of travel. I couldn't help but wonder what Sakura would be up to. I knew she had been working on the house a little. Mostly to keep herself busy. Though she did mention something about working in the hospital a bit. She missed it, as much as the hours killed her. It would be good for her though, she had been spending a lot of time just around the house, doing some kind of medical training. I didn't really follow since I had no interest in learning about the medical field.

My dojutsu training had been taking up most of my time. The sharingan held many secrets, and achieving the rinnegan was my goal. All of this only reminded me of something. Kakashi was able to unlock the mangekyou sharingan, despite not being an Uchiha. It wasn't supposed to be possible, though not much information existed. Still, it couldn't hurt to at least ask him about how he managed to do it. This of course wasn't the best of times. It would be a while before he told me, if he ever would.

We had been traveling sometime before the young girl piped up. It had been fairly quiet the whole time. I didn't sense anything, and neither had Kakashi, or the older woman. It made me wonder what startled her, maybe she was a sensor type. It would make sense. Karin was the same way about things. Maybe this girl had a similar ability. Though Karin seemed to believe that she was unique. A quality that I once believed in as well.

"Whats out there?" Kakashi seemed to notice, despite being in front of her. Maybe he knew that we should be running into something about now. He must have had some intelligence on this mission before hand.

"There's about four people watching us, one-hundred meters to the left. Their attempting to mask their chakra. That's why none of you sense them." That proved she was a sensor type, maybe one even as good as Karin. If she had any combat skills whatsoever though she would definitely be better. So far I liked her, she was tolerable.

"Are they following us?"

"No, they haven't moved as best as I can tell."

"We'll leave them be then for now, it's unlikely they're with the man we're after. Plus we're a ways off for people to be standing watch." He said that, but if there was one thing I knew, it was that nothing was ever set in stone. I had seen plenty of strange things, and that was in this region alone, there was a whole world out there.

We kept going ignoring the people who managed to notice us. It was possible that they also had a sensor type with them. Luckily for them they decided not to follow us. Things wouldn't have turned out so well for them.

The rest of the day was uneventful, we stopped for a short break at one point to eat and rest up before taking off again. By the time the sun was setting we could see the town we were staying at. It would be nice to stay in a room instead of outside. Regardless of how many times I had spent sleeping in the dirt, on in a tent, I had never gotten used to it. I liked familiarity despite the fact that until recently in my life I never had.

The hotel wasn't exactly what I would call nice, after changing in the woods we staggered our arrivals in random intervals. I went in last spending my time familiarizing myself with the village a little. It wasn't large by any means. Quaint would be a good way to describe it. It was strange though, having a room all to myself. I hadn't slept alone in some time. I hadn't even truly gotten used to sleeping with someone at this point. Often I found it difficult to get comfortable enough to sleep. Every so often I would just lay awake, holding Sakura until the sun rose.

It wasn't an easy task quieting my mind. Years of laying awake at night envisioning things had taken it's toll. Sakura though had procured some pills for me to take that helped quite a bit. I popped a few into my mouth, chasing them with a quick swig of water. It took about twenty minutes for them to truly take effect. It was a nice guarantee for a full nights sleep. The only downside was it made me quite the heavy sleeper, which made me reluctant to take them at times. I had a creeping notion that sleep would elude me tonight, and since I would need the rest for tomorrow I took them. I glanced out the window before falling crawling into the bed. A light snow had begun to fall, even on my walk the air had become rather cold.

The cold made it all the easier to fall asleep, even if the room was still warm, I liked the cold air. Konoha had a rather humid atmosphere for most of the year. It was a pleasant change. The drowsiness eventually started to take it's toll as I felt myself drifting away.

Sasuke had been gone for over a day now. I knew in my heart that he would be alright, but deep down I couldn't help but worry. I didn't like the fact that some made him out to be some sort of invincible monster. He was far from invincible though, though I wish I could say that the latter wasn't once true. I couldn't change the past though, the future however was looking bright. The beautiful sunrise cast warmth on my cheeks as I stared out into the village. The crisp air, and the warm cup of herbal tea I had helped calm my nerves and lift my spirits up.

I had another appointment today with Tsunade, it had been over three months now, and I could finally learn whether it was a boy or a girl. I had been debating with myself as to whether or not I even wanted to know, or wanted the surprise. Sasuke was indifferent on the matter, and in the end I decided I wanted to know. So this would hopefully be an exciting day for me, I had been hoping for a girl for some time now. As much as I enjoyed Sasuke as a guy, I wouldn't mind having some more estrogen around the house to help even things out a little. I would be happy of course though regardless of the babies gender.

I headed for the hospital, a long walk, but it was nice to get out of the house. Tsunade had basically taken over at the hospital, which no one was complaining about. Since she was bogged down with being the Hokage anymore she was able to focus medical things more. Which was by far closer to her true calling.

"You're really starting to show!" A comment that killed my self esteem. I knew she was right though. Within the next month there would be no hiding it. I had never prided myself on my looks, though I did value guys opinions on the matter, though I had been called _"Not cute"_ on a plurality of occasions. Mostly by guys I had just rejected. So I knew I must have had some appeal in the first place, otherwise they wouldn't have asked me out in the first place.

"Gee thanks. So what's this thing supposed to be?" The room we had gone into contained a strange looking machine attached to a monitor.

"It's called a sonogram. It's something that I managed to procure. It's going to let us actually see your baby."

"That's incredible!" I had actually heard about one of these before, but to me they had always come off as a little unnecessary. I could potentially sense the baby with chakra, though I wasn't having much luck, I kept getting strange results, most of which I attributed to my lack of practice in the matter.

"Now, I'm going to put this on your stomach, so lift up your shirt a bit." After I did so, she poured a strange gel on to me, which felt near ice cold. "Sorry, it's going to be a little cold." in my head I scorned her for not warning me earlier, but the worst of it was over already, I hoped at least. "Now let us see what we can see."

She flicked the monitor on and pressed the device to my stomach area, pressing into me a little. On the screen an almost indescribable image appeared. I had no idea what I was really looking at, but Tsunade seemed to.

"Well this is interesting! Look here." She pointed to a spot on the screen that showed something beating. "That's a heart right there. A strong one from the looks of it." My eyes quickly darted to another section of the screen, one that had an identical looking beating section.

"So what is that other thing?" I pointed to the other corner.

"That's whats interesting, you're having twins." At that moment I swore my heart stopped.

A persistent knock on the door woke me from my sleep. It took me a moment to remember where I was, a fun little side effect from the pills, mornings were groggy.

"Sasuke?" It was Kakashi. "Are you in there?"

"Yeah, sorry I overslept."

"Well hurry along, we're leaving in a few minutes." A few minutes was more than enough, I was virtually ready to go already. My things were already packed, but only because I hadn't bothered unpacking. All I needed to do was throw on my armor, and then the black robe over it. We would stick out, but no one would pay much mind to us. I doubted that most of them would even notice us. We would be on a dead bolt back into the forest, made all the easier since the hotel was on the outskirts of the town.

Nothing but tracks in the snow left any evidence that we had ever been in the town. We would be at the hideout in a few short hours. At this point we were all on guard. There would most certainly be guards, with sensor types among them.

"Alright, start jamming them Kaede." He motioned to the younger girl, the one who I shared the tent with two nights ago. So she finally had a name, though it was possible that it wasn't her real name. Not that I actually needed to know her real name. Still she was clearly gifted in a few different ways. The ability to jam other sensors was invaluable, and being a sensor type herself only made her more invaluable. It was clear now why she made this team. We would need to element of surprise, if we could do that Kakashi and I, and maybe even the other woman would have plenty of silent killing techniques.

"Yūgao, you're with me, Sasuke, you need to guard Kaede, while she jams their sensors, if they catch on that we're here, join in if you can, but protecting her is your primary mission. As you can imagine she's a rather important asset."

"You got it."

"And Sasuke, you're authorized to protect her by _any_ means."

_"Any means"_ Could be taken in quite a few different ways to most people but I knew what he meant. If I was lucky though, I wouldn't have to give myself away to her. Though I still was struggling to determine why we were hiding the use of my sharingan from her. That was the only piece of the puzzle that wasn't making any sense to me. Things had a way of coming out though.

Within a few minutes we could see the hideout, a few shinobi stood at the entrance. One man sat on the ground holding his head like he had some sort of headache. I presumed that it was Kaedes' doing. A side effect of her jamming perhaps. Another man was attempting to help him. The upside was that we had made it undetected.

Kaede and I stayed put while Yūgao and Kakashi broke off from each other. They would take out the guards first. The enemy had no idea what was about to happen to them and I thirsted to be in the battle.

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><p><strong>Authors Notes:<strong> Sorry about the delay on this chapter, had my birthday stuff going on and all.


	26. It Couldn't Be

**Authors comments:** Hello again my many readers. Well those who actually read these things know that, most of this story is based on true events. I only had one kid though a boy, not twins. So that's something different. Really not all that much to report other than that.

**Disclaimer:** I think, therefore I know I don't own Naruto.

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><p>I was thrilled at the idea of having a baby. I wasn't at first when I first learned the news, but over the last few months the idea had really grown on me. As soon as I heard that I was having twins though I was back to being not so enthralled at the idea. Tsunade was able to take a picture for me, showing the two heartbeats. I wondered how Sasuke would take it. I guess to him, two babies were better than one, it meant the revival of his...or rather our clan would be all the faster. Marriage was even scarier to me than pregnancy. The thought of settling down here and raising children, it was hard to even process.<p>

It wouldn't be that way for forever, maybe after a while I could just go back to working in the hospital, or even go on missions again. All of it sounded hollow though. I was used to adventure, and the rush of adrenaline that came when your life was on the line. It was hard to say, but I enjoyed the danger, but for the life of me I didn't know why. I had been on the verge of death a few times in my life already.

I didn't much feel like heading home, more or less I just wanted to be with friends. I hadn't seen Ino since she beat me in the exams, and as far as I knew she didn't know that I was pregnant yet. I supposed now was as good as time as any to tell her. She was someone that I could trust not to just blab it to everyone. I headed to her house. I didn't know whether she would be up this early, or even at home, but I didn't care. I just didn't want to go home myself. My mind was to busy trying to sort out the news of the day.

"You're getting fat." A sooth voice complemented by an insult could only mean that it was Sai. I couldn't even remember the last time I saw him. Mostly because I was having to fight the urge to turn around and send him flying. Logically though I still had to remember that he was still a bit of a social pariah.

"I'm not getting fat." Words I managed to get out while grinding my teeth against each other.

"I beg to differ." He leaned forward inspecting the slight mound now protruding from my shirt. It was starting to get really hard not to hit him. That was when he poked it.

My fist moved on its own accord. Followed by a shout of "I'm pregnant you idiot!" Luckily for him I didn't hit him at full power, that still didn't stop him from being thrown into the large tree behind him. I ran over to help him, trying to figure out whether it was just his stupidity or my hormones that took over. Either way I found myself relieved to find the tree splashed in black ink. Like someone had just thrown on a bucket of it.

"Good thing I sent in a clone first." I had the urge to punch him again, but instead I found myself laughing. I missed his antics, not that I cared for them at times. "So your pregnant?"

"Yeah, twins actually, I just found out. Your the first person to know actually." Despite the stillness of his face I could see him trying to work the social implications out in his brain. Trying to recall the information he had read in some book. I heard he spent an inordinate amount of time in the library studying all kinds of materials. "Well I'm headed to see Ino..." I finally said something to break the silence.

He just nodded and took off, tending to whatever business he had. I rubbed my hand as I headed off. It was still a little sore from punching Sai. The redness would go away on its own, so I didn't bother with it. Ino was surprised to see me, I was fortunate enough to catch her along the way to her house. She had just gotten back from a _"training session"_. Sadly it took me a minute to catch the hint.

"Yikes, who were you _training _with?" I had a few hunches, but one person was really in my mind.

"Promise you won't tell anyone?"

"As long as you keep my secret too."

"Fair enough, just for the record though we haven't actually done it yet, but I was with Choji last night." I knew that hadn't done it yet. Well I didn't actually know, but I knew Ino well enough to know that she didn't get around like that. People thought she did, but as far as I knew she was still a virgin. Made me wonder at times if she just enjoyed being a tease. Though who would have thought that at this point in my life I would have far more experience than her.

"Well I can't really say I'm all that shocked. You've had a thing for him for years whether you admit it or not. Since the chunnin exams." Ino looked guilty because she knew that I was right.

"So what's your big secret?" I was surprised by the fact that she hadn't noticed it herself yet. Sai noticed it immediately. I pulled my shirt back a little tighter to emphasize what she had been missing. A look amazement popped up in her eyes. She also let out a squeal of excitement that I didn't really care for.

"You're pregnant! That sure didn't take very long..." She was grinning sheepishly at me. I found myself blushing though.

"That's not all, I'm having twins. I just found out a little while ago. You're the first person I told. Well Sai technically, but that's because he called me fat and I sent him flying." Ino laughed, mostly because I figured she was able to picture that particular event pretty clearly. With that though we headed inside her house. It was going to be nice to spend the day with someone besides just Sasuke for a change.

If you so much as blinked you would have missed Kakashi take out the first guard. His speed was admirable at times, but I knew that I was faster. Yūgao took out the other while he turned to notice his partner being killed. Maybe our intel. was wrong about our targets. It was almost completely silent, aside from the sounds of water running nearby that muffled the sounds of the recent killings. Kaede was still doing her jamming technique. It seemed to take quite a bit of focus to do.

"They have at least three active sensors. I can still sense more than twenty others aside from us nearby. An explosion rocked the area suddendly. I saw Kakashi dash out of the explosion just before it consumed him. Dust filled the area, making it impossible to see. I could here the men below the ridge shouting orders, saying they were under attack. Was this some kind of ambush. Kakashi appeared beside me, I drew my sword in a flash before I realized that it was him.

"He had this in his hands." He showed the object to me. It looked like a sort of small radio, but with no earpiece.

"What is it?" I asked. I looked over at Kaede who was still focusing on concealing us.

"I believe it's called a dead mans trigger. If he dies, or lets go, it sets off the bombs." Kakashi packed the device into one of his pockets. I supposed technology like that was worth taking a look at.

"That's a risky defense." Yūgao managed to find us in the now clearing smoke and dust. Our masks did a good job of filtering it out of the air for us. It was still difficult to see though, even if I was able to use the sharingan at the moment it wouldn't help.

"Do they know where we're at?"

"No, they still haven't detected us."

"Alright, we'll take out the remaining two while we still have some cover, then we all need to spread out, make sure there isnt another way out of that cave. It looks like the bomb sealed off the main entrance. Sasuke, keep Kaede in visual range at all times. Once the other are taken care of spread out." With that Kakashi and Yūgao went off to make the others demise.

Kaede stopped her jamming and we split apart, each of us searched for an alternate opening for the cave. The idea at this point would be that they would be forced to come to us. I stood watching, searching for any sign of movement. That's when I saw it, an attack headed for Kaede. She didn't so much as flinch, maybe she didn't sense it. That seemed odd to me, but I really didn't have time to think about it. I made my way to her as fast as I could, but I knew I wouldn't make it in time. She was going to take the hit, and I would have to watch.

I wished at that moment I was using my sharingan, at least that way I might have had an explanation for what happened next. Kaede never moved, but about three feet away from her the mans weapon disintegrate, part of the mans hand went with it before he could react. He howled in pain holding out his bleeding hand which was now missing down to his thumb. Just who was this girl?

She pulled her blade out and finished him off. Throwing me a quick glance in the process. "Don't worry, I got him." Then I saw something I shouldn't have. In the instant her eyes met mine I could have sworn I saw her eyes fade from red.

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><p><strong>Authors notes: <strong>Another short chapter I know, sorry I didn't really want to make you all wait any longer. I've been a little busy over the last few days and haven't had as much time to write as I would like. So an extra long chapter next time, I promise. (as you can tell the story kind of calls for it at this point.)


	27. The Older Brothers Prodigy

**Authors Notes:** Well, here we are, another chapter. Luckily this week I don't have so much stuff to do, and can actually spend some times writing. Last week I was all sorts of busy. I love reading reviews, seriously. Some of you are trying to guess at Kaede's origins and well, I wont spoil it, you can just read this chapter, where you get to find out all sorts of information about her.

**OK, good Ghandi people, due to the fact that I'm starting to lose readers over this theory about Sasuke cheating on Sakura, which by the way is completely unmerited. I will now say this.**

**!SASUKE DOES NOT END UP CHEATING ON SAKURA!**

sorry for spoiling that for some people.

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT...own Naruto.

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><p>"Sasuke, are you alright?" I needed to recompose myself. If I had truly seen what I thought I saw that was one thing. I was trying to rationalize to myself that I hadn't though. The sharingan, rinnegan and the byakugan weren't the only dojutsu out there, they were just the most powerful. Maybe this was something else. Maybe it was just a glint in her eyes off something. In this world there were a lot of possibilities, but I couldn't shake the fact that deep down I knew what I saw.<p>

"Yeah, sorry, I was sidetracked by that ability of yours." A thinly veiled lie, one that she probably saw clean through. Maybe she knew I caught her. My mind was just swarming with thoughts. It was making focusing on my surroundings rather difficult, and this wasn't exactly the time to lose focus.

"Right?" Her look was skeptical, but it only helped to hide the fact that before she looked like she had been caught. Maybe I was delusional.

"Over here." Kakashi's voice came in on the radio that was stored inside the mask. That was something I didn't know about until now, but it was fairly practical. We headed in the direction that we had last seen Kakashi in. Yūgao met up with us and guided us the the second entrance to the cave. It was a small entrance that risked bottle-necking us should we try to go through,

"Ideas?" The others seemed to be working on a solution as well. I had one however, one that would quickly clear out the area of the entrance. At a bare minimum would get someone inside to guard it so the rest of us could enter.

"I got it." I blasted fire into the cave, it was crude but effective, I could hear a muffled shout over the jet of flame that was forming just past my mouth. A trademark technique that was widely used. Accomplished by taking a deep breath, mixing in chakra as it entered your lungs, then using the chakra formed in your fingers to ignite the air as you expelled it. The better your control was the more that you could manipulate the flames. I remember Kakashi being surprised that I was able to use it when we had our little bell challenge. Most chunnin can barely pull it off.

I slipped in as soon as I was positive that the entrance would be clear. The rocks surrounding the entrance were radiating with heat, they were now at a sharp contrast with the flow of cold air that was trying to replace the warmth. I drew my chokuto, farther inside the cave was lit, my understanding was that there was some sort of compound inside. It could be anywhere, and this cave could stand as a natural labyrinth. It was to early to tell. I motioned the others inside. At this point it would be open conflict, no more sneaking around. They knew we were here, and we had them all trapped. It was already over in my mind. I went in first, shurikens were launched my way from several angles. They would never make there mark though, I merely deflected them. I was beginning to think that we had only been led to believe that there were strong ninja here.

The other were only a moment behind me, a long enough time for me to engage the man on my right. Amazingly he managed to block my first attack. He had some skill with a sword, he was older than me, not by much, but even in his eyes I could see the same thing I had seen in other people who crossed swords with me.

He knew he was about to die.

My next strike was a downward slash, I decided to end it quickly with the chidori running through it. The man blocked, but my blade continued severing his right arm at the shoulder. I put him out of his misery by beheading him. Kakashi and the other looked at me with mixed expressions. Kakashi and Yūgao had a look I knew rather well on their faces, they both were off put by the way I killed him. Kaede was different. A crooked smile graced the corner of her lips. That's when it occurred to me. One of the things I noticed while traveling. Only people from Konoha were really off put by violence and death. It's why Sakura lacked the ability to kill me all those years ago. Even Naruto didn't have it in him when he had the chance. It was ironic that most shinobi in Konoha hadnt killed anyone. Mostly because there was relative peace in the nation now, we had all been taught that it was wrong. Only those in the ANBU were really hardened by most standards. To me, and apparently to Kaede, cruelty, violence and death were just parts of life and human nature. That was why she used that technique on the man, and didn't hesitate to kill him. I was beginning to understand her on a different level.

No one made a comment though, we just moved on. Encountering a few shinobi here and there. All desperately trying to just get away from us. That was the problem with a mercenary force, when it came down to a life and death situation, the amount you were paying them was never enough. There were exceptions to every rule, like Zabuza. A true ninja, one who fights without looking for something in return. The only thing people like him wanted was to test themselves against stronger and stronger opponents. I could appreciate people like that. To measure ones vessel. It reminded me of Itachi.

This wasn't really the time to think about him. We came to a fork in the cave, and broke off into our pairs. The resistance didn't continue much after that, only one or two, until finally we came to what I assumed to be the headquarters. A large steel door stood before us, the kind that one would see in a bank, this one made those seem small. Two men guarded this door, they didn't look weak like the others. These men we definitely S-rank or close to it. You could see it just in the way that they carried themselves. I had no doubt that we would make it through this. If it came down to it though I always had more up my sleeve.

I could hear something to my left where Kaede stood. I glanced over, she wasn't doing anything noticeable, if you didn't count the fact that the air around her seemed to hum, she was using her technique again. I wondered what it's radius was, and if she could adjust it. I was only five feet away, so that narrowed it down, the first time I saw it the man was only a yard or so away. At this point I wanted to see her eyes, as to confirm my theory, but the edges of her mask hid them.

"So you guys must be the little brats who think that their going to get our boss. You killed a lot of our buddies back there, we're gonna make you pay." The man was a brute, overly large like the last Raikage, not as big as he was, and most certainly wouldn't the former Raikage's speed. I would take him, I like putting arrogant people like this into the dirt.

"I got the loudmouth." Kaede silently agreed, I didn't waste time I never cared to. The man wore a Kumo forehead protector, I didn't bother with the chidori blade. Everyone I had encountered on this level from there was able to counter it. I had better means anyways. I had learned some new things over the years that didn't need chakra. Fighting hand to hand was good enough for me, but that was while I carried a sword. The man kept up with the flurry of my attacks well. It seemed he had as much experience I did. I had to admit that I wished I had started younger. My skill level was still high, they didn't call me a genius for no reason at all.

After a few spars it was time for things to heat up, I would let him make the first move. My speed gave me a decent advantage, I could dodge, and use that sussano'o. I knew Kakashi would be against the idea, but I knew I wasn't the only one hiding something. I shot a quick glance at her, the other man was approaching her, a cautious, but blood thirsty look in his eyes. Kaede would be fine, I knew that she could handle herself just fine.

My opponent took my glance at her as an opportunity, as if I would actually forget about him. I had more battle experience than everyone in this room. I could read a book and kill this idiot. I decided to break in my arm guards to deflect his attack, staggering him. I slash at his torso with my sword. With a burst of electricity the body dissipated. I only had a moment to release the blade before the shock would stun me, and then I would be in a little trouble. I let go just as the current ran up the blade.

"End of the line kid!" The attack came from above, but I was far from the end of my line. He was nearing his. I had my blade on my back, but I wouldn't be able to draw it in time. Luckily my left hand could make one. He didn't have time to dodge the current blade. He sadly attempted to slice it away, only to have it cut his blade in half before it caught him through the heart. I look up in time to see him grin. Its the real him so I cant imagine why he's smiling as he's dying. With his last breath he holds out his left hand, another dead mans trigger.

I make a beeline for Kaede, who is enjoying the last breaths of her victim. She glances at me, even in the silhouette of her mask I can make out what I feared. She has the mangekyou sharingan, the disintegrating aura was her unique ability that came with it. In that brief moment the explosion happens. I don't have time to do anything. The room is already coming down on us.

None of the falling rocks hit us. The unmistakable sight of a sussano'o surrounding us protects us from the explosion and debris. We being bathed in the maroon glow of hers, I can see the pain running through her, though I know she's trying to hide it. Every cell in her body was telling her to lower her defense. She soon did once the rocks stopped falling.

"Who the hell are you?" I was shouting now. I was supposed to be the last. She was a pure blood Uchiha. That was the only way that she would be able to use the sussano'o. Kakashi proved that it was possible that a non-Uchiha was able to use the mangekyou sharingan, though by some unknown means. That means this girl was not born in Konoha, I knew that already though. Though having a child outside the clan was strictly forbidden, I remember that much. The father and mother would have been killed on the spot. Though the time frame fit with Itachi's obliteration of our clan.

Kaede just looked shocked, and tried to shrink against the rocks. Her sharingan was still active. She didn't know how to react. I had been calm and collected until now. I wondered who all knew about her, and how they could not tell me that there was another. A female nonetheless. This was a betrayal. A betrayal from Konoha.

"What's wrong?"

"Don't you fucking play innocent with me. Who are you? Where did you come from?" I was angry, angry like I hadn't been in a long time.

"My name is just Kaede, I wasn't born in Konoha , what's gotten into you all of a sudden?" She was genuinely scared, but I didn't care. She didn't seem to understand why I was so angry with her all of a sudden, of course to her eyes, she had just saved me.

"You shouldn't have those eyes, no one should." I tried to calm myself, it wasn't working out well. "I was supposed to be the last Uchiha. Those eyes...make you like me." I activated my sharingan. She looked even more frightened, it was like she had been living under a rock. She really had no idea. How was all this possible? After this mission I would go and get my answers. I would beat them out of Naruto, or Kakashi, anyone who knew about her for that matter.

"Me and you are going to have a talk..." I finished calming myself by taking deep breaths. "Just answer me this. Who else knows about those eyes?"

"No one. No one else knows, a man once came to me, and told me to never let anyone else know about them." I stared at her, trying to tell if she was lying, if Karin were here she could have confirmed it outright. One of the few good things about her.

"Who was the man?"

"It's been almost twelve years, but his name was Itachi. He never gave me a last name. He was my mentor, and taught me everything I know. He's the one who found me, and protected me. I only came to Konoha a few years ago." My mouth had to be dropping at this point. My brother was so deeply involved in my life, it was hard to imagine how he managed to have so much planned ahead. I almost wished he was alive so I could kill him again.

"That mans name was Itachi Uchiha. He was my older brother. I killed him four years ago. These are his eyes." Her expression changed to horror, but she also looked even more confused when I said I killed him. Somehow, she was free from the knowledge about the Uchiha clans past. That was fortunate for her. Though I would have to explain it to her eventually. That was a long story for a more private occasion. "We are going to talk about all of this later though, don't worry though, I can keep your secret." I would definitely keep it. If she wasn't lying and no one else really knew about her possessing Uchiha blood, then she would be an invaluable ally to me.

Kakashi and Yūgao appeared moments later, brought in from the explosions. The large door was still visible, virtually unscathed by the falling rocks. It was a lot easier to see, now that the roof had collapsed and sunlight exposed the entrance to it a little better. I had no idea how we were supposed to get in though. I imagine that even with my chidori cutting through would be no small task and would take several hours of cutting. The only problem with that was there would be no way to do that in a day, or even a week. My training attempts at holding it were limited to a few minutes at a time tops. This task would take a week. We needed other options.

"How do we get through, the boss is definitely going to be in there." Kaede had managed to compose herself quickly, and focus on the task at hand.

"Maybe we don't need to, that building will have to have some kind of ventilation. We can potentially suffocate them out." Kakashi cut in.

"I have some poison bombs, perhaps we could just kill him that way." Yūgao's idea seemed a little better to me. I'd rather just let them die as cowards in their box. The man was a coward who hid behind his wealth, and had to hire people to do his dirty work. I would personally love to kill him bare-handed, but that wasn't an option. There wasn't any way to get in, unless Kaede had something else under her sleeve. I did wonder if that ability could get her through.

"That should work, now we just need to find the ventilation shaft. It will likely be on the top of this safe house." We all went to the top, which still had some of the room still attached to it. The vent was visible enough though. Two large vents protruded from the roof. One for intake and one for output. They would almost be large enough for us to go into, but judging from the number of traps that this place had already had, no one even had to suggest it.

"Kakashi, I have a better idea," Yūgao spoke up "we use an explosion, in the confine of that room the concussive force will be magnified multiple times. We just need a decent sized bomb. We all began pulling supplies, mostly exploding tags, and some compound that Yūgao was carrying that reminded me of that Diedara man from Akatsuki. She carefully dropped our little creation down the intake vent. We had already cleared the area, and she was making her way rather quickly towards us, as she jumped off the room we heard the explosions. The force must have been something because even the large door creaked under the buildup of air pressure. Anyone in there would be dead. There was no doubt about that.

The scent of charred flesh could now be faintly smelled coming out of the ventilation shaft that was still sucking the old air out somehow. This place was clearly well built.

"Should we go in and confirm it?" Kaede asked Kakashi.

"No, everyone in there is dead, we can be fairly sure of that. We also might not be able to actually get inside, and even if we do we likely wont be able to identify the bodies. Let's head home now."

We took off out of the hole created by the explosions, a far quicker route than attempting to go through the cave again. It would still be another two days of traveling though until we got home. Plenty of time for me to get the truth out of Kaede before she became just another face in the crowd. If I didn't get some information out of her before we got home there was a decent chance that I might never see her again. Konoha had become a big place. I couldn't afford to lose her.

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><p><strong>Authors comments: <strong>So it seems like there is a rather large number of people who are fairly convinced that Sasuke and Kaede are going to get together at some point. I really have no idea where you all are getting that impression. There hasnt been anything close as to what i would call a "Romantic moment" or even a hint at it. By all means though, continue to speculate.

Well, this chapter practically wrote itself like halfway through when things really started going. It's really nice when you just get in the zone, and everything comes together like that. Then I went back in a did a little editing. The next chapter will obviously contain a lot of information, and hopefully I'll have it out in the next couple of days.

And here's another fun fact. This story is just the first one in a three part series, yay. So drop a review. Or send me a PM and as anyone who ever does so knows, I'll get back to you ASAP.


	28. Return

**Authors notes:** Ah, seriously "They're both Uchiha, therefore they **must **hookup." As if my plot was going to be so transparent. So due to an overwhelming number of...well concerns I guess I will say this

**SASUKE DOES NOT "CHEAT" ON SAKURA WITH KAEDE!**

**I seriously can't emphasize that enough.**

Happy? (Sorry, it's just getting a little out of hand.) Anyways there was kind of a delay on this chapter, due to my friend lending me season 6 of Supernatural...

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

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><p>The tension was killing me as we left the area. I had so many questions for her, most of which involved my brother. I was curious as to how he found her. He must have been training her while he was in the Akatsuki. The whole trip I could feel her watching me from behind. I could sense that she was every bit as curious about me as I was her. Who knew what my brother had told her. It was possible that he warned her about me. I just didn't have enough information yet.<p>

I tried to focus, I didn't need Kakashi or Yūgao getting suspicious of us. Knowing Kakashi, he would get the wrong idea. I didn't even want to give him the excuse to come looking around. When the opportunity came for us to talk we didn't need any uninvited guests listening in. We skipped past the village that we stayed in the second night. I didn't mind, since I didn't plan on talking to her in a hotel room, where you never knew who was listening in on the other side of some thin wall. No, I would have to take her somewhere secure.

I didn't want to wait until we got to Konoha, it would be almost impossible to talk to her then. We stopped in the forest a few hours after we passed the small town with the hotel. If the chance came, I would talk to her tonight. I made our tent in a hurry. Kaede apparently was on the same page as I was. She didn't pay me much mind, or at least pretended not to. I had a feeling that she wanted to ask me just as many questions that I had for her. She was watching Kakashi and Yūgao, not enough though to gain their attention. We finished setting up camp like normal. Which didn't take long since it obviously wasn't meant to be all that permanent.

Kakashi stoked a fire for most of the night. It was frustrating. Yūgao must have gone in for the night because I didn't see her after she entered her tent. If they knew I was going to play along. I joined Kakashi at the fire, he was cooking some kind of game he had caught in the forest. I had been setting up tent when he caught it. He offered me some, it tasted gamey, but I ate it regardless. IT was the closest thing to real food I'd had in a few days. He watched me eat it, holding his piece close to the fire. I stared back for a few moment before I remembered what he was waiting for. I rolled my eyes and looked away for a minute, chewing on the tough meat of whatever it was that I was eating. I turned back around in time to see him finish pulling his mask back over his face. It made me wonder what he had worth hiding beneath that mask.

It seemed like hours before Kakashi went to bed. I told him I would take the first watch, that gave me four hours. Shortly afterward, Kaede came from the tent, she had changed down to just her undershirt and pants. She sat across from me, staring at the flames that were sending up sparks into the open air. We chatted idly, mostly about things that would bore the pants off of anyone listening in. I didn't waste time when she whispered to me that the coast was clear. We went nearly a quarter mile before stopping to talk. Our campfire barely visible in the distance, blocked by the sparsely spaced trees in this area.

"I just have one question really." She started first. Since she just had the one, I would let her go first, even though I was about to boil over.

"Alright."

"You said you killed your brother a few years ago?"

"That's right. Kind of a long story as to why."

"But that can't be right, because I saw him again not four months ago, he stayed with me for a few days before I came to Konoha. He... never told me about you." It took a lot for me not to burst out. She wasn't the one to blame though, if she saw him that long ago there were a few explanations. Orochimaru had an ability that was capable of bringing people back to life. How he was walking around freely was another matter.

"Someone brought him back then." I sighed, I wasn't sure how to process her bit of news just yet.

"Is that even possible? He seemed just fine, better even."

"It's possible, though I don't have all of the details, I just know that it can be done."

"Alright." I could tell she wanted more information, but on the subject of revival I had already told her everything that I knew. "I bet you have a few things to ask me."

"You have the mangekyou sharingan, how far has your sight deteriorated?" She couldn't hide her reaction, but it was a look of shame. It already gave me a hint at what she had done. I had done the same thing. "Whose eyes did you take?"

"My sisters...Itachi basically taught us everything he knew, he chose me though, all those years ago. He told me what I would have to do... I resisted at first, but eventually I couldn't ignore my situation. It was when other people started to notice was when I really started to consider his proposal."

From what I knew her story sounded the same as what most Uchiha did to their siblings. To think that I thought that particular tradition might end with me. I knew that I wanted to revive the clan, but I didn't know if I wanted that kind of particular information out there for everyone. Violence was what put the Uchiha clan where it currently was, virtually extinct. If there was a way to hide this from the world I would.

"You had a sister?"

"Twin sister actually."

"I see...so how did you manage to hide the fact that you had the sharingan from everyone...except Itachi."

"I guess you could say that there were never any witnesses afterward. Itachi was the first, we attacked him. After he saw our eyes he knocked us out, and hid us in a small town. Trained us in the woods, out of sight of everyone. He treated us like family." Those were words that hurt, but she couldn't have known. "He would disappear for months at a time, but by that point we could more than take care of ourselves. He never stopped pushing us to our limits though in training, especially in skills that didn't involve the sharingan...he was just...so far above us back then. It was hard to imagine that there were people like him out there. So powerful, yet so kind."

I was well aware of what Itachi did all those years ago. Playing the villain. Truth be told, this was the most I had ever heard anyone speak about him in some time. I don't know why I wasn't able to discuss him with Sakura, but this was helping. Maybe now I could. She deserved to be let into my life even more than I had already let her.

"So why go to Konoha?"

"It's where he wanted me to go, he didn't say what for though, maybe it has something to do with you though. I just don't know, maybe he thought I could do good here. He loves Konoha." It was weird to hear her talk about him like he was still alive and well. Even though it was technically possible. I still didn't want to acknowledge it though, I would need to see that with my own eyes. The word of a virtual stranger didn't count for much. Though I didn't think she was lying. Being skeptical and distrusting had kept me alive this long.

"Well, let's get back to camp. The other might have noticed that we're gone."

"No, I can sense them. They're asleep still."

"It's not like I don't have more questions, but I have a feeling that we have time for them later. There's still a whole day of traveling ahead, so tomorrow night we can try again. Let's just get some sleep." We headed back, the whole time I was trying to process her story. I sat by the fire again, which had dwindled significantly. I still was on watch, after a few hours Kakashi came out of his tent, his one visible eye looked tired. He still wore the forehead protector over his left eye. Old habits I assumed. I went into the tent, the only sound inside was Kaede's light breathing. I myself had to focus pretty hard to just to fall asleep. It was hard when the person that you wanted to talk to was sleeping, if she actually was, was right next me. I did eventually doze off though.

The next morning my lack of sleep was apparent, it took most of what I had just to force myself out of the tent. The others were already ready, at worst I was running just a few minutes late. It didn't matter though, at this point it was only a matter of just getting back home. Sakura would be happy to see me, and to be honest with myself I missed her. It was something that I noticed since this was my first time away that missed so many little things about her. It was an interesting feeling, missing someone. I missed my parents, but it was different kind of missing. I just wanted her to be back around. She was literally my one tie to Konoha at this point. I was feeling more confident over the last few weeks though that I would be able to settle down, raise a kid. I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue going on missions, or focus on my own mission.

It wasn't that the missions were particularly dangerous, I doubted that I would ever come all that close to death on one of these missions that Naruto had me running around on. I knew he wouldn't put me on anything that I couldn't handle. Although what could be out there at this point that I couldn't handle? Less than one percent of the population of the world would even have a remote chance of fighting me and having a chance of victory.

After a full day of completely uneventful travel we stopped. It was somewhere near the original campsite we made the first night. I recognized some of the landmarks of the area. We would be back by noon the next day. That was even after a decent nights sleep. Kakashi stayed up the whole night, effectively throwing a wrench in out plan to talk again tonight. I did however manage to tell her where I live. We could potentially meet up again at some point. She knew my chakra at this point. It would be easy for her to find me. She knew to catch me when I was alone though. I knew Sakura had a little complex about other girls. She was definitely the jealous type. I didn't want her to get the wrong idea about me and Kaede.

Kakashi had his usual dulled expression on when I woke up. The typical one that people wore after a night of being awake. After relieving myself out in the woods, then packing the rest of my things we all headed back. Konoha came into view before too long. I wondered why we just didn't bother traveling through the night, since we were only a few hours away. It wasn't up for me to decide though, Kakashi was the captain on this mission, and what he said to do was what were obligated to do. Despite the fact that the way I did things was different than his. My methods back at the cave would have been more direct. I didn't like all the sneaking around that we had to do just to take care of a few guards that obviously posed no threat to any of us. I could have completed that mission alone. Doing things on my own power was just my way of doing things, ever since the war. Going back to being a team player was going to be difficult.

My life in general though was going to become a team effort of sorts. The family that I was starting would be like my own team. If one could think of it that way. I had a few years to get there though, before I started training my child. I needed to change more myself though. All of the nights that I had spent awake, just made me realize that neither Sakura or I were ready to really raise a kid in the way that we wanted. Changing ourselves was just the next step. Growing up really. We had just been flying through our relationship at this point, never really taking a moment to examine it up close. Sometimes I didn't really know what it was all about, maybe she did, and maybe she didn't. We couldn't complain though, it was a working relationship at this point. They say you shouldn't try to fix what isn't broken, and I knew we weren't broken from the moment I saw her face light up as I walked in the door.

"You're home!" She ran up as quick as she could, giving me a kiss which seemed to last for minutes. I had almost forgotten the taste and feel of them as we seemed to blend into each other. "I have some great news." she said as we finally broke off from each other.

"What is it?" She was holding her stomach now which hadn't really grown much as far as I could tell.

"Twins Sasuke, we're having twins." I didn't need to even think about how good of news that actually was. It was terrifying as well, but that only lasted for a moment. It was the same as when she told me that she was pregnant the first time. Two children meant that Uchiha revival would go all the faster.

"That's incredible." I kissed her quickly. "Let's go out to celebrate, to be honest I'm a little starved. Try eating Kakashi's catches for a few days, and you could go for just about anything." She chuckled a little, probably reminiscing about the times that she had eaten the very same thing. Then again, Kakashi probably was far more used to just eating whatever he could come by. Times had changed quite a bit since he was our age. Despite the fact that he was only one generation ahead of us.

"That's fine, I haven't had any lunch yet. Eating for three now anyways."

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><p><strong>Authors notes:<strong> not really anything of note to put here.


	29. Rebirth

**Authors Comments.** Wow has time sure gotten away from me. It has been BUSY few weeks now, I just literally have not had the time to write a chapter. Which sucks since this book is coming to an end next chapter.

Fret not though, because it only sparks the beginning of the next one. The second one is called "Corrupt Me."

So this chapter isn't very long, but the last one will be very long. A lot happens. So here's this one, kinda doing the last little bit of set up for the first finale.

**Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Naruto.**

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><p>"You've had six months Kaede, does he suspect you?" It had been six months since I last saw Itachi, We had planned on meeting this day, he appeared to me the night before I left on the mission with Sasuke. A secret mission that obviously included me gaining Sasuke's trust, though for what reason I hadn't been told just yet.<p>

"No, I don't think he does, I've only worked with him a few times since then...why would he suspect me"

"I'm aware, I arranged all of the missions that you were together on." I had a suspicion that he might have been pulling strings. Naruto was working with him, of that I was certain. Maybe this was both of their ways to keep tabs on Sasuke. He was quite the emotional recluse after all. It was hard to tell what he was thinking, even reading the mood of his chakra didn't help at times. He was a loose cannon on the field. He never slipped, but once or twice I thought that he was pretty close to taking out a teammate. Usually after having the mission not go quite the way he liked. "Do you think that he's a threat?"

It was a hard question to answer. I knew that he had a few kids on the way. I followed him once. If he detected me he did an excellent job of hiding it. Maybe he just didn't care that I was following him to begin with. He refused to meet me in the village though. He was keeping his distance. I didn't think that he still trusted me completely, after all, to him I was an impossibility. Deep down, even if he couldn't say it out loud, I shouldn't have existed. I wondered if he preferred that I didn't. Him not liking me though didn't make him a threat. I wondered if he really liked anyone.

"...No, I don't believe he is."

"Sasuke is... troubled, it won't take much to shatter the peace that he has gained here. I don't like him being here, he's stronger than you realize. I don't know if he has reached his full potential. As you already know, much of an Uchiha's strength comes from their will and emotions. It's not just ones vessel that makes someone strong or weak."

"So what do we do?"

"We wait, and watch. Most of all though, we try and prevent any kind of trigger that may set him off."

"Naruto could stop him, and he wouldn't get through me so easily either." I was confident in my abilities, especially after seeing Sasuke in action a few times. Of course he had been holding back, it wasn't like we had run into anything that required him to show his hand. "Not to mention you could help out as well." The last part of my comment obviously didn't sit well with him, the only way I could tell was by his intake of breath. Other than that his stoic stance and face didn't give much away, unless he wanted to.

"I don't know if Naruto could kill him, the last time they fought his failure to kill Sasuke nearly killed him. When all the chips are on the table, Naruto will always spare Sasuke's life." A brief smile appeared at Itachi's lips. It made me wonder what all their history was. I had actually heard of Naruto before coming to Konoha, even before he became the Hokage. Everyone had, he was just something the world had never seen. "If I fought with Sasuke, the bind that attaches me to this world could be cut. It's why I wont risk seeing him."

"Why didn't you ever tell me about your brother?" It was something that I had been dying to ask for a while, ever since that first conversation that me and Sasuke had all those months ago. "He said that he killed you."

"He killed me, because I needed to release him from Orochimaru's grasp entirely. A fight to the death was necessary. Though when that fight took place, I was near blindness, I fooled him into thinking that I wanted to take his eyes for my own, the benefit of which you are already aware of." A brief pang of guilt swept over me. Itachi had never approved of what I did to my sister, I knew he wasn't sure on how I even knew to take her eyes in the first place. It wasn't something that he had ever told me about. Perhaps Sasuke's ideal on changing the Uchiha clans ways was unrealistic. I wondered if it was just instinct that made me do what I did. I told Sasuke a lie about how I gained them. I killed my sister in cold blood, Itachi didn't even know. I did my best at the time to feign what actually happened. As far as he knew, or at least pretended to know. My sister was killed, and I recovered her eyes. He was the one to do the transfer though. I still had my original eyes safely stored away, hidden quite well in my home in Konoha. The nightmares that I often had at night were a constant reminder, but how could I ever forget?

"It would have to be me then...If Sasuke ever had to be stopped, I would have to be the one to do it." It was a sudden realization.

"Yes, but that is why you're here, in training, strengthening your vessel. You have a chance to catch up to him. Hopefully though, you will never have to face him. His hate fuels him. Counter him with your love."

"Love of what?"

"That's just something that you're going to have to find out on your own." With that he disappeared, our conversation ended about as quickly as it began. Itachi had told me a little about Sasuke, but with huge gaps that I knew would take quite some time to fill. Itachi and Sasuke obviously had an incredibly estranged past. Somehow, they were both the only survivors of the Uchiha clan, my attempts to glean information out of people had been rather unsuccessful. I even tried a genjutsu on someone once, only to find that the information had been forcefully removed from the man. It was strange, something about it just seemed like someone wanted the entire past of Konoha erased. There were only a few people though with that kind of ability in the city. The person behind all this obviously had good intentions though, but erasing memories didn't sit well with me.

"Cryptic as always" I muttered to myself. It would be nice to get a straight answer for once. He may have just been referencing the fact that the sussano'o took its form and shape from your emotions. Even the color was drawn from them. Drawing upon it required a pure emotion. Mine had always been one of fear, resulting in a dark red color. I had been afraid a lot in my life, so it was only natural I supposed. I hadn't seen Sasuke's yet. I could only imagine what he brought his out with.

Our meeting place was not far from the village, in the night sky against the clouds you could see the glow from all the lights. Even at night the streets still had a certain life to them. Most of the people I saw were making their way home from the various bars after having their fill of sake. There was also the police force, keeping a watchful eye. Though the village hadn't really been on alert since the incident nearly a year ago when the Cloud wanted Sasuke. I hadn't been here for that, but it was the closest thing to a war in quite a long time. Still peace was a clever illusion created by all the Kage. Now all the conflict was done in silence.

For some reason I found myself drawn to the Uchiha complex. A rather wide expansion of homes, most of which were worn down from decades of neglect. From high in a tree I could see one home with a few lights on. I watched for a while, wondering what everyone was doing up so late. I had to be roughly three in the morning. In a blur I saw Naruto and Tsunade running that direction. That piqued my curiosity, something was definitely wrong. I wanted to move in closer, but going into the complex was forbidden, Itachi didn't want me going there, strangely Naruto had warned me about it too. I knew at this point that Naruto had been informed of my lineage. It was strange that he kept pairing us up though. It was almost as if Itachi wanted us to be together. I just wished I knew the purpose.

"AHHHHHH it hurts so bad!" Sakura was still screaming on the bed in pain. This was the moment that was almost a year in the making, and yet I was terrified. Tsunade had just arrived and was tending to Sakura while prepping the room. It was too late to take her to the hospital. Just hours before she had been complaining of some pain, the before I knew it she was going into full out labor.

"Sakura I need you to lay back, and try to stop screaming." Tsunade's voice rang out with command. It was clear that she was used to giving orders. She had been Hokage after all. "Sasuke, are you going to just stand there? If so, get out!" She pointed me to the door.

"Come on" Naruto pulled me to the doorway. "Trust me, you aren't going to want to see this." I walked out, Naruto shut the door behind us. I felt a quick pang of guilt for leaving her, but truthfully I couldn't stand seeing her in that kind of pain. Naruto leaned against the wall, while I paced nervously. My mind racing with nothing. It was strange that I couldn't seem to pull one full thought, all I could seem to focus on was all the yelling in the other room. Shizune burst through at one point, not even giving me or Naruto the time of day. She was carrying several blankets, and other things. In the brief moment the door was open I caught a glimpse of Sakura. She looked like she was about to pass out from all the pain.

After that I could hear muffled shouts for her to push. I knew that it was time. Naruto was attempting to calm me down. Though I was doing my best to appear so. I wasn't really listening to what he was saying though. All I could do was just listen through the door as best I could. Finally I heard the first cry. That didn't stop the shouts for her to keep pushing though. At this point I was on the edge of my seat. At last I finally heard another cry. Minutes were hours. Finally Tsunade motioned us in. Sakura was holding them. Words really couldn't express how wonderful they looked.

"It's a boy and a girl." Sakura cried, she had a look pf pure joy on her face. I was sure I did as well since my cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling so hard.

"Have you both decided on any names yet?" Naruto asked. It was a good question, but in truth we hadn't. yet We both wanted to wait until they were born to decide. I personally didn't want to name either one of them something cliched, but something that was more unique to them. A start of something new as it were.

"No we haven't picked the names yet. I guess we'll have to decide now."

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><p><strong>Authors notes. <strong>This chapter may receive quite a heavy update in the near future. Mostly just to go into more detail. I really wanted to make it longer, but I kind of want to move on to the next part and not updating after so long is really bothering me.


	30. All things come full circle

**Authors notes: **Well, this is going to be a verrrryyyy long chapter, writing it will be fun though. After this one, I am going to start on my second installment in this series. "Corrupt Me" so keep an eye out for it.

Disclaimer: I'm super pissed that mangafox is no longer hosting Naruto manga, that aside I still don't own Naruto.

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><p>No one ever bothers to tell you how hard it is to pick a name for your child, let alone for two names. You kind of wanted it to be fitting, or give them something to live up to, like Sasuke's name. Sasuke wasn't offering much help on the matter. He was being oddly adamant over the fact that I should pick the names. Which also wasn't easy since I was still pretty worn out, even though it had been almost a full day. Tsunade told me to take it easy though. I had been fairly determined to get up and around though. I kept sneaking off to the nursery to look at them. They were almost always sleeping, but occasionally moved, or tried to rather. The swaddles that they were in did a good job of keeping them still and comfortable.<p>

It was an interesting thing, how when your a baby you want to be confined like that. Though it doesn't take long at all until you yearn to be free to do what you want. To me it was just hard to come to terms with the fact that my children were actually here. One year ago I didn't even consider the possibility of me being in this situation. I was just doing my thing, medical training, studying new techniques, and attempting to create a few of my own. All of that while maintaining my shinobi duties on the field. Looking back I wondered how I did it. All of those long days that seemed to last forever. The last few months were a virtual blur though. Wondering if Sasuke and I would be good parents had been rather forefront in my mind lately. It didn't help that now we could hypothesize what kind of parent that we would be.

It really just made me miss my parents. If they were here they could have helped me through this a little better. A brief moment of grief hit me as a remembered their fate, knowing that the one responsible was standing behind me. He had been watching me watch the babies. I briefly thought of naming them after my parents, but it wouldn't have been right to Sasuke. Which meant that naming them after his parents was out as well.

"Hitomi..." Sasuke finally spoke as he placed his hand on my shoulder. "Name the girl Hitomi." It was a oddly appropriate name all things considered. After all that is what she would be. A pupil of the eye. It made me wonder if Sasuke was already playing favorites in his mind. Maybe he already saw something that I didn't. Oddly though I found myself laughing at his choice, mostly because before he had been against being the one to name them.

"Then we can name the boy Hayato..." Sasuke just nodded. I guess he caught the reference. Maybe it was something that he could teach him. After all riding through the air was amazing once you got used to it. It just made me wonder what I would have to offer them. If they were anything like Sasuke they wouldn't really have the aptitude for medical training. Though that wasn't all that I was good for. I knew about control and raw power. Also Kakashi was always trying to get me to learn genjutsu. I had always blown him off because I was far too busy with other things. Which was true to an extent. I most certainly had the control and brains that your average shinobi just didn't. Though Sasuke would be a better teacher for that than I. He did have much more experience than I did. I was beginning to feel that inferiority complex sneaking back up on me. God knew that I had enough of that already.

The following months were a blur of late nights, Sasuke was surprisingly helpful. He never gripped when he had to get up in the middle of the night to take care of the babies. I figured it just was an excuse for him to be up at night. He had been having trouble sleeping ever since the night that they were born. Maybe he was just nervous, but for some reason he just couldn't seem to let himself relax. It had begun to get to the point that I would have to force him to go and lie down. After a while I would catch him laying there asleep on the couch, and occasionally he would make his way to the bedroom. Being a ninja, and constantly having your life on the line was turning out to be less work than being a parent to two twins. It was all temporary though. In just a few short years they would be grown up a little, and would start to manage things for themselves. The first few years were hell. It sounded terrible to say, but I soon found out that I didn't have much patience. No missions, no going out just constantly being at home tacking care of two children who turned out to be more trouble than I could even imagine beforehand. By the time that they could both move around Hitomi would pick on Hayato. She even picked on Naruto and Hinata's young girl who was only a few short months behind them. The three of them had already become good friends, the kind that you had forever. It was interesting to think that they would all be in the Academy together in another few short months. I was happy that I would get to be their teacher, it was an offer from Naruto. He figured that I might like to take the job since Iruka wanted to step down. After all he had been doing it for a long time. Plus I was anxious for a job that didn't have such ridiculous hours. It would be a nice change in pace. I would be enrolling my kinds in the academy this year. They were young but obviously ahead of the game. They reminded me of how I thought Sasuke was when we were in the academy together.

Sasuke had started their training young. Training in the basics of shuriken throwing, even weapons training. He had them both chokuto's made that were still a little large for them for now. To most adults they would only appear to be a slightly long tanto. They would grow into them though. It was clear what style he was training them in, or wanted to at least. It was like he was trying to make copies of himself, maybe starting a style that was going to be synonymous with the clan. Hayato wasn't taking to the swordplay quite as well as Hitomi. Hitomi was turning out to be a lot like her father. Wildly talented, but luckily for her she didn't have to grow up with the same problems that plagued the generations before us. As far as I could tell, just being at the age of six, and almost seven, there wasn't any amount of anger or hate inside her. I couldn't say the same for Hayato. I could see the jealousy rising. I knew that emotion all to well. I spent far more time training him than Sasuke did. So I taught him one of the things that I knew far better than Sasuke, control. That was hard to teach to someone though who still didn't have the firmest grasp on chakra. You had to start somewhere though.

I knew well that if you could gather your chakra into specific areas of your body, and you knew how to release it properly, you didn't need raw strength or speed. I was a perfect example of what perfect control could get you.

"I'm going to teach you how to climb tree's!" I tried to sound enthusiastic, but it wasn't working all that well. Hayato was smart though, far smarter than Sasuke, Hitomi or myself. His studies would go well that was for sure. I often tried to explain things as technically was possible with him. I imagined raising Shikamaru would have been similar to this. I should look into the two of them spending some time together. Maybe Shikamaru could finally find someone to play a round of shogi with.

"I can already climb trees mom."

"I know, but try and climb that tree." I pointed to one that didn't have and low hanging branches for him to pull himself up on. He just looked at it for a moment before deciding that he couldn't. "Exactly, so you have to learn how to do it with your chakra. You just need to gather it to your feet, and use it to hold yourself to the tree."

"Doesn't sound so hard."

"I wouldn't know, I got it down on my first try, but it took your father the better part of a week to be able to climb to the top of a tree."

"Really? I have a hard time picturing that. He looked over at Sasuke and Hitomi, who were practicing the fireball technique. Sasuke was showing her how to properly breath for the technique. I was sure that she would have it down soon. Not playing favorites was clearly not on Sasuke's mind at all.

"So you have to use just enough chakra to stick to the tree, too much and.." I kicked the tree, blowing a small portion of it away. "You'll destroy the tree, and with too little, you'll obviously fall."

He didn't get it on his first try, but he was definitely better than when Sasuke and Naruto first tried. If he tried hard enough he could have it by the end of the day. I was always reminding him that there was no need to rush and exhaust himself. The situation wasn't the same as when his father had to learn. I however was working on my own training on the side. At nights Kakashi had been showing me how to perform more than just a basic genjutsu. It was hard training. Especially since he was trying to get me to perform rather elaborate ones. It took a lot of know how that I was having a little bit of a hard time grasping. At a minimum though I could at least perform them.

Before I knew it though I was calling roll for my first day of classes. The curriculum would be simple here and would probably bore the pants off of my children. Though there were a lot of children here that would never go past the skills that they would learn from me. That was the way it had always been. After all not everyone was cut out to be a shinobi. It wasn't the life that everyone made it seem to be sometimes. The turnout was certainly bigger than I remembered it being when I was there age. It was hard to believe that that was over a decade ago. Time had sure flown by. My class had a few trouble makers, one in particular that acted like a young Naruto. Unfortunately it was his daughter. She had a real gift for laying out little pranks for people. Maybe she could use that particular skill to her advantage in the future. Her studies weren't much better than Naruto's either.

His daughter aside I thoroughly enjoyed my new job. It was nice to feel a little more important. At the hospital I didn't get this feeling, despite the fact that I wasn't saving lives...at least not in the same way. Teaching people how to protect themselves and the ones that they love. Sasuke had begun to captain his own squad in the ANBU. He was working through the ranks, not that there were actual ones in the ANBU. IT was nice now that he didn't seem to be under suspicion any more. I knew that a lot of the parents were concerned. I heard of a few rather viscous rumors. Most of them came from some of the older people who still remembered the past. I did my best to try and ignore them, but my temper had gotten a little fierce over the last few years. Raising kids had that effect on a woman. The trouble that they could get in was astounding. The stories that I could tell. I would do it all again though. After all, just because it had been almost seven years, didn't mean that Sasuke and I couldn't have any more kids. Maybe after our first ones were out of the academy.

I couldn't believe how fast that moment came. It was no surprise that my children would graduate early. Naruto's daughter did as well along with several other children. It was amazing to see such a strong new generation start to come into being. It was always said that the old generation would be surpassed by the new one. I remember Kakashi telling Naruto on our first real mission that there were people younger than we were who were stronger than him. It was hard to imagine my own being that way, but they were definitely stronger now than me or Sasuke when we were that age. Though I didn't have the same kind of head start that they did. I just wondered who their instructor would be. There was a knock on the classroom door, which was strange since class was over and I was just finishing up the final paperwork of the six graduates.

"Can I come in?" A voice I hadn't heard in too long. Kakashi had been rather scarce ever since Hitomi and Hayato were born. Only Sasuke ever really saw him, and that was only in passing. Things were still a little tense between the two of them. He no longer sported the traditional flak jacket that I had always seen him wear. Instead he seemed to wear some sort of newly styled ANBU uniform. I was beginning to think that he was starting to get a little old for that. I wondered how many missions he even went on at this point.

"Of course!" I went up and hugged him. A quick one though because I knew he wasn't to fond of them. "So to what do I owe this appearance?"

"Sorry I've been pretty busy with some things." Vague as usual. "I'm here about your kids graduating. I would like to be their Jonin instructor. If that is alright with you." I found myself oddly unsurprised at his offer.

"I didn't realize that I had a choice in the matter."

"You're right you don't, I just figured that it would be nice to ask you anyways. After all I have the experience."

"It would be an honor really. I don't know how Sasuke would feel about it though..." It was true, I didn't think that he would be alright with Kakashi being their teacher for the next few years.

"Actually I asked him first, he was reluctant at first, but he came around. Which was good since it wasn't up to him either. Naruto basically insisted. I can only imagine as to why."

"He does think rather highly of you. It might be for his daughter as well. He wants the best."

"Still not a very fair team build. Three students who are all far past the basics. I've seen their numbers."

"Well look at their parents" I laughed. "Sasuke pushes them hard, and Kushina is something else as well, I don't know if the word genius applies to her. She's like her father in that way among other things. She has a tendency to play pranks so watch out.

"Noted. So are there any...troubles with Sasuke and your kids Sakura?

"Troubles?"

"Never mind. I guess I'll go see them now, I've been making them wait an awful long time now. I wouldn't want them to think that I don't take my punctuality seriously." He left through the door and headed down the hall.

"You don't though!" I yelled after him.

"They don't need to know that yet." I couldn't even count the hours I spent waiting on that man to show up. He was always prepared with a half bit lie. The kids should be entertained. Plus why shouldn't they have to go through some of the stuff that I did.

Down the hall I could hear Kushina's laughter, exclaiming her excitement that her trap worked. I wondered if Naruto convinced her to do the same thing that he did the first time that we met Kakashi. I wouldn't be surprised at all. Although I did have to wonder why he intentionally let those erasers hit him in the head?

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><p>Lol ok I lied, not a long chapter. A regular length one if anything. The next chapter WILL be the last one of this story. I had some SERIOUS writers block, I thought beginning something was hard, ending it is by far worse. But I finally know how to end this and will get started on the ending right away, but worry not, because it only starts the next, far more awesome sequel.<p>

and ugh, I didn't like how this chapter got started, and it time jumps a lot. I'm gonna try and get it all together in an update sometime.

As always, review.


	31. Hopelessly Outmatched

Man, finishing up this story is gonna be tough, a lot to get in place for the next book. Good news though, my latest chapter marked my 50,000th hit. So I just want to thank all my readers. The story is gonna move a little more and more towards my original characters, but it will still largely incorporate Sasuke, and Sakura, so fret not you SasuSaku fans.

And another thing people, when you start reading a story and you don't like it, don't leave a nasty ass review on someones story, just stop freaking reading it. It's one thing to offer some constructive criticism, its another thing just to try and tear someone down. Not cool.

Disclaimer: Still don't own Naruto.

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><p>"He's a Jonin instructor, he isn't gonna fall for that lame prank." Kushina could be so stupid at times, which didn't make me the least bit excited to be paired up with her and my whiny brother. Honestly I couldn't figure out who though that we needed to be together.<p>

"Trust me it will."

"It's an eraser...that will fall and hit his head...Are you retarded?" A question that I already knew the answer to.

"Whatever, be quiet I can hear someone coming." She darted back to her seat, slinging her arm around me in the process, which briefly gave me the urge to punch her. I didn't get the chance though because right then a masked man who opened the door got hit with an eraser, making his already gray hair even whiter with a puff of chalk. He had to get hit by that on purpose. Kushina had burst out laughing at this point.

"You know your father did the same thing. Did he put you up to this? Well, then I won't waste any time, lets go to the training field, I have a little test for you."

I had been fed up with tests at this point, they were all pointless, and beneath me. I wasn't being conceited either, mother and father had put us far ahead of the curb. Getting through the academy was ridiculously easy, shuriken throwing, and a clone jutsu. Konoha needed to raise its standards...in my opinion at least. Letting people like Kushina through, even if she was the Hokage's daughter I didn't like her. Though a lot of people sucked up to her. Hayato did, intuition told me that he may have had a small crush on her. I didn't care about those kinds of things though.

We made our way to the training grounds, Kushina was barraging the man with a flurry of questions, most of which he just avoided. He had an interesting air about him. He gave away nothing, not even his face. He was obviously a pretty private person, which only made me want to know more. I was taught to always be calm and gather information on my opponent, no matter what the situation. This guy was a one, and he already had a heads up on all of us. He had dossiers on all of us for sure. Mother had said something about having to put them together for all of the graduates. There was still something about this man that I didn't like. He was supposed to be our teacher, but he hadn't even bothered introducing himself which was odd.

He finally did when we got to the training grounds, and let loose the fact that he was our parents teacher as well. That explained why he was ours now.

"Are we going to to the bell test?" Hayato finally spoke. He had been oddly quiet since Kushina placed the eraser trap.

"Yes. It's simple, I'll explain it to the others, since they don't seem to have heard of it yet. I have two bells. You're goal is to get one from me by using any means. Even if it seems a little dangerous."

"That's it?"

"Oh yes, if you all fail to get both bells, I'll send all three of you back to the academy for a year. Also, you only have until sundown." I gritted my teeth, sundown was only four hours away, and there was no way in hell that I was ever going to back to the academy. I would screw rank entirely before I did that. I didn't need a fancy title just to be strong. I hated to use him as an example, but the Hokage never made it past Genin if you wanted to be technical. "Obviously, I can't give you guys the same test as I gave them. You're at a much higher level than they were at your age."

Higher because no one ever pushed them like we had been pushed, ever since I could remember we had been training. Father had mentioned that his father was the same. Strict standards of training. I actually started to enjoy it after too long. Hayato never did, he was fine with his mediocrity, and on this team, he was definitely the weak link. He only put up with the training that father made us do. Mostly he trained with mother, learning different things that weren't used just for combat. The only thing that we hadn't done yet was spar. Mother wouldn't allow it. As far as I knew Kushina hadn't been in a real fight either. The closest thing was a very short session in the academy that went over a few basics. It wasn't hard to fight though, father had been training me in secret, not Hayato though. It was something that I noticed after the first couple of sessions. Father didn't think much of Hayato. I had overheard them arguing about it a few times. They both had valid points. You couldn't hold everyone to the same standards, that wasn't real.

"Let's start." Kakashi hung the bells off a loop on his uniform. The string that was holding them looked like it would break if given a decent tug. I could only imagine how similar this would be to sparring with father. I could try as hard as I could but never land an actual hit on him. I was more than aware of what fighting a Jonin was like. He might let me in up close just to see what I could do, but in reality he would just be toying with me. I doubted a ninjutsu would work either. A genjutsu perhaps. I doubted that would work all that well either. If I had the sharingan maybe. It was frustrating that I hadn't unlocked it yet. Father said that his didn't truly unlock until his first real mission in which he almost died. I hoped mine didn't come about under similar circumstances. I obviously didn't have any intentions of dying.

Hayato made the first move with Kushina closely following. I was surprised he went first. He always struck me as unsure and hesitant. Maybe he was just trying to look good for our potential new teacher. Kushina didn't surprise me in that regard. It fit her personality to just be in the fight. She was rowdy. She was in stark contrast with my calm and collected self. Her moves were brash, but had a notable power to them. Hayato shocked me though when he missed a punch and the tree that they had gotten Kakashi against, shattered where he struck it. It wasn't destroyed like it would have been had she done it, but it was interesting to see that he had come this far. I leaped into the fray, so far neither of them had managed to lay a hit on Kakashi.

I had a little more experience than they did though, and I was confident that I could do it. They were trying to attack him, I only needed a bell. I had wire attached to several kunai perhaps I could manage to cut one off, or entangle him in close quarters. If anything, I might get away with the element of surprise. If I could even disable him in the slightest I might could get a bell. There was one thing I had that the others didn't. Speed. The body flicker technique. Father basically crammed it down my throat once I learned to use chakra to climb tree's and walk on water. I still wasn't there we had only started a few weeks ago. I was faster than these two though. I raced towards him as fast as I could manage. Even through the mask I could see his surprise. That upped my confidence a little. I threw the kunai before I got to him. He dodged them by a hair. I watched his one visible eye. If he noticed the wire, he didn't give it away.

Wires on both sides, I had him where I wanted. If he was half as old as his hair made him looked, he was doing an amazing job, of holding off my combos. I couldn't help but hold back my hits when he would throw his arm guards in the way. Hitting steel wasn't the best idea in the world. Finally I had him, if I made my move now, his right arm would be immobile. I went for it. In the split second that my finger touched one of the bells. A knee came up right into my gut. Before I knew it I was on the ground gasping for air.

"You may all be farther ahead than your parents were, but you're even worse at working together than they were, and they didn't work together at all. I'll say this now, if you can't work together as a team you can never hope to make it any farther than you already are. Your team can push you to be better in ways that a teacher just cant." I was still trying to get up. The shock value of the fact that he had hit me for real was setting in. My ribs were aching, it felt like a few might have been broken. "That won't stop me though from pushing you all to your potential. I was pretty soft on your parents back in the day. Now are you going to just sit there letting her write in pain, or are you going to help her out so you all can come at me again, only this time together?"

I didn't even for a second think that the kind of training that we would be going through would be this rough. Who the hell did think he was anyways? I was angry, at this man, and a little at father for not pushing my farther along in my training. I wasn't prepared for this at all, none of us were. He was toying with us all.

"Hitomi...you..." It didn't take but a moment for me to realize what had gotten Hayato talking. Everything was clear. I had perfect vision, yes, but this was something else. Everything was more defined, like I could see things in the air and smaller things that I had never noticed before. Was this the sharingan? Father had never really described it to me, though I had asked him about it several times. He always just told me that I would have to wait and see it for myself one day. I looked at Hayato, he was smiling like he was happy for me, but I could see the real look on his face. Jealousy.

I knew he had always been a little jealous of me, but the extent of it hadn't weighed on me much until now. It was in his eyes, I could just see how much he hated me, and resented me. Caring about others opinions of me though, what not one of my strong suits. It wasn't that I fancied myself superior to others, it was just a big waste of time and energy to spend so much time caring about others. Maybe I wasn't all that cut out for teamwork like Kakashi was trying to get us to use.

"Even if we work together, there's no way that we can get a bell! He's to far above us, and he's not even attacking." I hated to agree with Kushina's obvious assessment of the situation. I knew that just because I had the sharingan now, I would fare no better in a fight. If all three of us attacked him head on he could easily knock us all away.

"We have to retreat..." I gritted my teeth as I said it.

"What!" Kushina and Hayato weren't happy with my solution at all.

"We're outmatched in every way. In a real life scenario we would retreat."

"To hell with that! I would stay and fight!" Kushina's hotheadedness was getting on my nerves.

"To die pointlessly? What a dumb way to go, I would get my team out of there, instead of letting them go aimlessly to their deaths." At that instant my eyes moved to something headed my way out of the corner of my eye. I instinctively caught it before I had time to realize what it was. He had thrown me one of the bells. Leaving the other still attached to his belt loop. "Why?" I looked at the bell in my hand then back at Kakashi.

"I'm not here to be a regular Jonin instructor. You are all going to be part of a special team. The kind that hasn't been put together since the last time I was in one. This will be an infiltration squad, we will be going into enemy lines and disrupting them. There will be plenty of times that we may be forced to retreat, and knowing when to do so is priority. You may have to make decisions that cost lives besides your own. Needless to say your training won't be conventional."

Our training had already been unconventional, we were all children of well renowned ninja. We had expectations to live up to, whether we liked it or not. Kakashi was busy scolding Kushina about not doing stupid things like running in headfirst. I was starting to feel dizzy however. I didn't think that I had used that much chakra though. The sharingan took a little more put of me than I expected. I wasn't even sure how to stop using it in the first place. Stopping the chakra flow perhaps, it was worth a shot. I focused my attention to my eyes closing them to help me concentrate. When I opened them again, everything appeared to be normal. I needed to start building my chakra if I was going to be using the sharingan more often. The speed that I was using earlier drained me as well. I still didn't have the control finesse to not release to much chakra when running.

"So does this mean that the exercise is over?" I asked still trying to stand straight and not make it apparent that all this had been taking its toll on me.

"Hmm, I suppose so, but we start the real training tomorrow. So be prepared." Aside from the fact that he had a lifetime more experience than us, I didn't think that his training would be any harsher than father's. I just needed to get stronger so one day I could take that other bell, which he never removed throughout our training.

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><p><strong>Authors notes:<strong> Urg that one comment is still on my nerves. Anyhoo, I'm gonna try and update again soon. Been caught up in a bunch of stuff lately. Started a new relationship, and packing to move...


	32. Departures and Arrivals

**Authors Notes: **This story has just been really hard to get to lately. Mostly because I just have soooo much more on my plate now, since I originally started this story. So it's hard to find time to write. Ah well though. I'm about to move to a new place here in Wichita, so i might be a while on this update.

**Disclaimer: ***Checks bank account* Nope, still don't own Naruto

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><p>I didn't care for the following years, training for sabotage missions. How to get in and out of places undetected. It just didn't fit with my personality, Kushina's either. Only Hayato seemed to really take a liking to it. That didn't surprise me since over the years he had become even more of a social recluse. Even though we lived in the same house, I barely seemed to see him. Sometimes I wondered if he was even at the house. He was oddly good at masking his chakra, and lord knew that he was silent on the field. Often taking out enemies individually as they were still in a group. Silently picking them off. Usually not having them notice until there was only one or two left. In a straight fight though I doubt that he could manage to best either me or Kushina. He was the very definition of a specialist, and Kakashi had taken quite the liking to him.<p>

It was good for him to receive some sort of validation from someone. I knew for a fact though that he wasn't getting it at home. Mother had let the academy consume most of her life, so she just didn't have time for him. Father still honed my skills with the sharingan at home, and other various trainings. I was excited however to finally see him in action. We had been put on a mission together, a combat one. Apparently someone high up thought well of my skills because it was an A-ranked mission. I couldn't wait. I must have spent several nights checking and rechecking my equipment. The day that we were to leave together couldn't get here fast enough.

"Where are we going?" My dad had been awful silent for several miles now. Which was weird since he usually talked a lot. Mom hadn't been saying much either. It was beginning to make me nervous. Which was something that just made me want to talk even more.

"To the land of the Eddies. I found something there for you."

"Really! What is it?" Mom sighed, something that she always did after I had a bought of nervous energy escape my mouth. I wondered if I was really related to someone that quiet and reserved, I didn't seem to get any traits from her at all. "How much farther is it?"

"We should be there by morning. It's time you knew about your heritage, and revive the Uzumaki lineage. Your red hair is proof of it, its just like my mothers." Dad hadn't ever spoke of his parents really. The spiral you see on the jackets of the ninja, is the emblem of the Uzumaki. Once they were allies of Konoha, but during the wars of the past they were destroyed because they were feared."

"Why were they feared so much, and how did they manage to destroy them?"

"Sealing jutsu's. Most of any seals you see, were most likely created by the Uzumaki. Those are just the basic ones though that people managed to learn. I've been trying my hand at them a little, but I don't really have the mind for it. I've had you training at home with the shadow clones. Which as you've noticed by now has put you way farther along than some of your peers. This will give you just that much more edge against those who might seek to harm you or the ones that you care about."

This was all pretty serious talk, one of the few things that could actually make me pretty quiet. It kept me up that night, thinking about what all I was about to learn. He was making seem like I had a lot to live up to. Maybe I did. I was beginning to understand how Hitomi must have felt at times. I was sure her father was pushing her in the same way that dad pushed me all the time. Always towards something in the future that I couldn't perceive. Mostly because I felt that they were old wounds that maybe our parents were trying to spare us from. They didn't really speak of the past though, but I knew it wasn't pretty. I guess they figured that things were only temporarily solved. I didn't like the idea of us having to fight out their battles for them, being dragged into that whole thing wasn't exactly on my "to do" list.

The land of the Eddies wasn't what I expected at all. I knew that they were destroyed, but I didn't expect to see so much destruction still intact. Usually when something was destroyed people rebuilt. Things looked here like it had just been left for decades of decay.

"People say this place is haunted, so people have avoided it since its destruction. It took me a long time to find anything of value here though. I found a trove of information. Scrolls on history, techniques and all sorts of things in between those two. That's all at home in the vault though."

"Then why did we come here?"

"There's something here that we need to do, something else I want to give you. Another heritage of the Uzumaki line, though one not quite so well known. Follow me" We walked onto a lake that contained a rather large building in the middle. Part of which was still was still submerged underneath. We went to the top of it. Even the destruction looked beautiful from up here, the way the morning light was bouncing off the water. "Lay down here, and lift you shirt a little."

It was an odd request, but I obeyed it. Exposing my stomach area. The stone beneath me was cold and was making me even more uncomfortable that I already was.

"The next few minutes are going to be pretty intense, but I need you to know that everything is going to be alright." His fingers than began to glow blue. I could only imagine how much chakra he was using to make it visible in such an intensity. They glowed even against the morning light, like flame. He then pressed them on my stomach in a swift motion, the pain was pretty intense, so much so that I completely missed whatever he was saying. It was brief though. I watched as where he pressed formed a duplicate of the seal that was on his. I never had any idea what it was for. No one would say, or even knew for that matter.

"OK, that was the easy part. Hinata are we still clear?" I now noticed that mom was using the byakugan, and was scanning the area.

"Yes, the only ones around are the ANBU in place. All squads are reporting things in the clear." That confused me a little, dad was probably the last person I knew of who would need a guard. Was this really going to take that much out of him?

"Kushina...the Uzumaki lineage also gives you another thing. Something that has helped me all my life that I want you to have. The Kyuubi." That was the name of something I had heard before. It was one of the tailed beasts. It wasn't something that I wanted. I had heard more than my fair share of terrible tales of it over the years. Why was he waiting this long to tell me that he was the jinchuuriki. "I'm the current host of the Kyuubi, like my mother was before I was. Really we're the only ones who be it."

"But I don't want..." I tried to plea, but there was not going to be any debate. Without delay he started the transfer. A noticeable red chakra began to profuse from his stomach where his seal was, which in turn began to rush to mine. I had absorbed peoples chakra before, through a couple neat little traps of mine. It was often accompanied by a slight tingling sensation and a rush of energy like someone had just shot you full of adrenaline. This was like a warmth spreading throughout me. It wasn't overly hot, but it was intense. As it went on I could feel something, akin to that feeling you got like you were being watched by someone.

It was over sooner than I thought. The odd sensation however continued. Dad was laying on the ground completely still, almost looking as if he were dead. I guess I knew now why they had a bunch of guards in place. Even a kid in the academy could kill him in his current state. Mom was attending to him though, he looked as if the life was sucked out of him. I knew what that looked like, I had done it to someone before. A stubborn fool who decided to try and charge through a host of my draining traps. I felt sorry for that guy I often thought about him, and the will it took to try and defeat your enemy even when your already defeated. In a way he inspired, and haunted me.

"I don't know how he'll act with you..." Dad finally found it in him to speak. "It took me a long time to get him to work with me, and I doubt that he will be any different with you...I am sorry Kushina. There are some who are going to look down on you for being a jinchuuriki. You should never let that stop you though."

I suddenly began to cry, which was all the worse since I wasn't really sure as to why I was. Mostly I was upset a little at what had just happened, even though I knew deep down it was a great honor.

"So what now?" That was the only thing that I could think of to ask.

"I'm really not sure Kushina...For now, let's just head home." We did head home, after a while at least, Dad wasn't really all that good to go for a while. When we got home he gave me to scroll that he had found. I was shocked really, there were literally hundreds of different kinds of seals, with the applications being almost limitless. It made me wonder even more what force it must have taken to destroy the entire land of waves, just to erase one clan. I was going to have to adjust the scroll into my equipment though. Several inside were clearly meant for such. I had seen pictures of dad's teacher, Jiraiya, one of the Sannin. He carried on that was similar.

It looked so large on me, and was a little heavier than I cared for, but I could get over the latter in time. Though I wasn't done growing just yet...In multiple areas. I sighed as I examined myself in the mirror, I didn't exactly have my mothers full figure. She simply assured me that she was the same when she was my age and that I still had a lot of growing to do. I wasn't that patient though.

The next few weeks were full of training. Mostly because Hitomi was out of town with her father on some sort of _special mission_. Which was fine with me since she had been really getting on my nerves lately. She had developed this high and mighty attitude. I wasn't really that surprised that she had it though, really she had just been holding it back for a long time. We had become a bit something like rivals lately, but in a fight, I was pretty sure I could take her. I had seen her in action plenty of times before.

Hayato was being a huge help in my training, though obviously not with some of the more dangerous techniques. We were becoming pretty good friends actually. More so than we had in the last few years as squad mates. Mom thought he had a little bit of a crush on me, though I didn't really want to think of that. I didn't have time for boys like most of the other girls my age seemed to have. It wasn't that I never thought about them though. I just was to bust training. Especially now that I had another set of chakra to learn to use. When the Kyuubi would cooperate at least. It was difficult sometimes, but I spent a lot of time just talking to it. Attempting to get it to tell me stories. I was oddly interested in it. It had been around for a long time, and knew quite a bit of things. Though there was a lot that it just outright refused to tell me. I was OK with that though., I knew it would take time for it to come around.

Sealing jutsu's were turning out to be a lot harder to integrate into my style than I thought. I had really just come up with a few new traps. One of course I hadn't field tested yet, due to its lethality. I also had started training with dad. He was training me to use the flying raijin technique. Which was much more than just going from one place to another. As much of a dunce that he could be at times, I was surprised that he managed to figure it out from the scroll.

Right now I was just working on the basics: Contract seals and summonings. Aside from the ones I had particular interests in. Things were looking to be pretty interesting.

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><p><strong>Authors comments:<strong> Not the longest chapter, but certainly not the shortest either. Well I just finished moving into my new place, got my internet and everything set up. So if I can tear myself away from Mass Effect 3 long enough I'll try and get the next chapter out sooner.


	33. New talent

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

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><p>I didn't like having our first mission right after getting back. Apparently though it was urgent. I barely had time to unpack before the word came in and I had to repack. I was frustrated enough already, I didn't need anything more pushing me. My trip with father wasn't what I expected it to be. It was a lot to try and take in. Why did he wait till now to tell me all of what he did. Oddly it shook me to my core. I never knew that the Uchiha history was so full of sadness. There was no public information available. I knew, I had spent plenty of time looking before now. I had always found that odd because there were plenty of history book around, but all of them just seemed to be missing segments of time. It didn't strike me as too odd though. We did live in a world where secrets were second nature.<p>

After weeks of searching through every library I could find I gave up my search. The only way to find out what I wanted to know would have been to ask father. That's how I ended up going with him. He showed me everything. Our clan's heritage was not what I expected. It had really put me in a depressed state, which was making going on this second mission even more troublesome. I really didn't want to go. Unfortunately, I didn't really have a choice in the matter. I was beginning to grow up into my own right now, and I was constantly being forced to do things for Konoha. I didn't hate it, but I could feel myself getting there. After all that had happened recently, I just needed to have some time off just for myself. That was just a dream though, I doubted that I could get the time off. There was always something that needed to be done.

"You alright Hitomi?" I hadn't even realized that I had already arrived at the meeting spot. I was still trying to sort my thought on what father had told me, and clearly it was affecting my concentration.

"Oh, yeah I'm fine. I just have a lot on my mind" It was weird of Kushina to ask. Even now though she felt different to me. She looked different as well, I could only speculate as to what the giant scroll was for that made her seem smaller than she really was. It wasn't that she was small, even for a girl. She was actually taller and physically stronger than me and most boys our age. It was just she still didn't look big.

"Yo!" Kakashi appeared behind us after nearly an hour of waiting. I really needed to start showing up later. I just had this nagging feeling that the day that I try to anticipate his lateness, would be the day that he would show up on time, and scold me for being late. "Where's Hayato?"

I had been so in the clouds, that I hadn't even noticed he was missing. Kushina had just put the same look of confusion on her face that I had.

"Hey! I'm here!" Hayato suddenly came up running, not from the direction of home however. I wondered what he was doing so early in the morning, away from home, that would make him so late. I didn't like him, but I didn't really feel like sitting and interrogating him at the moment. I would just find out later. I would follow him the next time he took of somewhere. He was the better tracker, but that didn't count for much in the urban sprawl. I knew that I was more than capable of following him undetected.

"You're late..." Oddly enough Kakashi of all people really didn't like us being late. Which was hard to take seriously, since unless we were on the battlefield, he himself was always late. Usually his punishment was just to make someone buy a meal for all of us. He wouldn't ever bother to say anything though until we got back from the mission. Hayato had never been late before, so it was hard to say. I had been late a few times. Kushina on the other hand had a hard time meeting some of our early morning meets. That was only early on, back when we first became a squad. I don't think we had to buy a single meal for weeks. It didn't take long for her to really making sure that she was there on time though.

That was all that was said though as we left the village. I found it oddly hard to even look at Hayato now. Knowing what could happen if he knew what I knew. That he could potentially come for me one day, out of the blue. As if he had the balls to attack me though. Though trying not to go blind, especially to someone who is very dependent on their sight, would be motivating enough for just about anyone. The only thing that was my saving grace now, was that neither of us had achieved the mangekyou sharingan yet. Then again, neither of us was off killing our closest friends. I wasn't even all that sure of who my closest friend even was. I hated to think that it might be Kushina, or even worse Kakashi. I didn't really get to spend much time with people outside of those two, and I knew that Hayato certainly wasn't it. We were far too at odds sometimes. There was a big unspoken sibling rivalry between us. Which mostly consisted of various jealousies.

That was normal for siblings though, so I had never really given it that much real thought until now. It was so much more to me now. I knew everything. Fathers past, and the true nature of our clan. He told me that he wanted me to be the vanguard of its change. That it all started with me. I could be the one that could change the entire shinobi worlds perspective of the Uchiha. He had put a lot on my shoulders. When I went looking for answers though, I wasn't looking for the responsibility that apparently came with them.

It had been nagging me for a while now, that I could hit a ceiling of strength. That my lineage had a literal wall that separated me from the next level. I didn't even know if there was another way. Neither did father. He had taken the old path, as many had done before him. Now I had to find some way around centuries of unspoken tradition. It was just too much for me, one girl, to handle. I hated that I didn't have an answer.

"This mission is going to require us to break into two teams. Kushina and Hayato will be on the second team, and Hitomi and I will make up the first. There are two groups of twenty or so ninja. Mostly just thugs from surrounding areas that have banded together. They've been interrupting our supply lines, and we need to take them out."

"That's hardly our kind of mission." Hayato mumbled.

"Yes that's true, but forces are spread pretty thin, so we got the job. Now obviously you don't want to take them all on at once, so use your best discretion." Kakashi pulled out a map showing the last known encampments. "We'll take out this one, and you two hit the other here." He handed Hayato and Kushina radios. I didn't care for them since their range was rather limited, but at times like these they were handy.

"Meet back here when you're finished, it's about a days journey to each location. You shouldn't run into anything higher than chunnin level shinobi." The radios wouldn't work at that distance, so at best they would have to call in while on the run in hopes that we could intercept. We broke off into our groups and parted ways.

"Well, are you ready?"

"Yeah, let's go."

I had never been alone with Hayato before. In the past when we were split into two teams I had always been with Hitomi. I wondered why Kakashi was changing it up now. Hayato and I didn't really have much practice working together in this kind of situation. I honestly felt like I could take twenty or so guys on my own. After all I did have something new. Well in truth it was an old trick but I was using it in quite and interesting way. After all I had to keep things interesting.

We traveled close to the encampment, but out of the average sensors range. Night had already fallen by the time we stopped and set up camp. It was strange to share a tent with a boy. At least one who wasn't significantly older than I was, or that wasn't related to me. If what mom said was true, then maybe Hayato had a thing for me. When I thought about it, he was actually really good looking, obviously in good shape. I just hadn't considered a relationship with anyone before. Being together with a teammate was potentially even worse. I knew the kinds of problems that it could cause. Changing the group dynamic could have deadly consequences. I had heard plenty of stories of it happening. Which is was why it was strongly discouraged. I just wondered why I couldn't stop thinking about it. I had to focus to stop thinking, which was very difficult for me.

I woke up to him shifting in his sleep slightly. The morning light was just beginning to break, and the air inside the tent was unseasonably cool. I was shocked to find myself snuggling up against him, my arms completely around him. I slowly pulled my arm off from around him. Luckily as best as I could tell he didn't notice. I got up and slipped out of the tent, hoping to be able to take care of my business with a little bit of privacy. A dense fog was beginning to lift now that the sun was rising. I grabbed my things as quietly as possible before relieving myself.

As I suspected, Hayato was up and ready by the time I got back. He didn't say anything, but that was normal because he was quiet in general. When he did say something though it was important, so I tried to make it a habit to listen when he talked. He was silent though as we traveled, of course I was as well since we wanted to keep the element of surprise. I had just the thing for that too. Hayato was one quiet bastard though. I wasn't sure who he was learning his evasion skills from though, but once in a training session he not only managed to give Kakashi and his hounds the slip, but was even able to make a successful counter-attack. You would need the byakugan to find him. Unfortunately I didn't inherit that from my Hyuuga mother. That was alright with me though, because being a sensory type didn't fit my personality. I liked to be in the action.

It didn't take long for us to come across the encampment. Hayato quickly and silently took out some of the perimeter guards. I however began to prepare. While it was never a technique that I would use on my actual self it was one that when combined with a shadow clone produced a devastating effect. It wasn't without its risks, as with any jutsu, but this one was particularly taxing on ones chakra, which is why this would be a jutsu that only I could hope to pull off.

The reverse four symbols sealing technique. Upon death it releases a black sphere that seals everything caught in its radius. The downside of using shadow clones was a diminished radius proportional to the number I sent out. I was only going to send out three currently. It was the number that I had been training with. It basically gave me three fighting death traps. If one was quick they could escape the radius in time. Though it also discouraged foes from hitting my in fear that I might just be another trap. I knew as soon as I learned this, that it was going to be one of my crowd favorites. I didn't even know if it would work with shadow clones when I first attempted it. It was a little weird killing off one of my own shadow clones, just to watch it explode in black, devouring the ground beneath it, and a large chunk of an old tree. It hit me hard though, instantly using half of my chakra. Normally after using a shadow clone, if it was destroyed you got the remainder of its chakra back, and any experience back. In this case though, the jutsu took it all. Which in this case was a considerable bit considering that like my father I had quite the natural reserve. I was still a little hesitant to use the Kyuubi's chakra.

Hayato shot me a curious look as I sent them in. I just gave him a smile and signaled him to watch. "This should be good." From the outside looking in, thee identical girls were about to walk into a camp full of thugs. There was a suspenseful moment when the main group realized that they had been infiltrated. I watched with a grin as they surrounded the three shadow clones. None of them had any idea what they were about to be in for. A few of the dumber looking ones were grinning clutching their weapons. I could tell from here which of the group were the strongest. They were standing back, letting the grunts, and expendables go in first.

In a moment it all started, the first few came at the clones. Whose combat skills easily outmatched them. Which was sad said since they were only at twenty-five percent strength. It was what I wanted though, to get as many involved before the seals went off. In a moment the first one did. Catching three men in the radius. The second one went off a split second later, this one only caught two, but three more were caught partially, leaving only a remainder of them left. One man, now missing a significant portion of his arm was sprawling on the ground, clutching at the bleeding mess. This left about eleven enemies left, who at this point were obviously wary of the remaining clone. I was starting to feel the strain. Feeling short of breath. To my disappointment, one of them managed to dispatch the third clone with some well thrown shuriken. The group was still in disarray, a few were trying to tend to the wounded. Some however were still actively on watch, realizing that they were wide open for an attack.

We didn't feel like wasting time. I launched a barrage of kunai at range while Hayato, got in close. The kunai did their job of distracting people for just long enough for him to close in the range. His sharingan, and agile combat skills allowed him to dispatch a few foes before I managed to catch up. I wanted to try putting seals on people in a real combat situation, and this was the time to practice. None of these guys would present much of a real challenge. All in all I managed to plant a few seals on people before finishing them off. It was decent experience, which was what I needed now anyways.

Getting back to camp was easy enough. Dad had been working on the flying raijin jutsu with me. So we were able to get back instantly, at the cost of wearing me down quite a bit. It was a challenge trying to move so much mass at once. We left after a few hours of resting, meeting up with Kakashi and Hitomi. The travel home didn't seem to take that long. I could have gotten us back instantly, but Kakashi insisted on going back the normal way. So we spent the next few days getting back home, stopping out of the way to stay at a nice hotel. Which was a nice change of pace. We all had been working pretty hard lately so it was nice to take the better part of a day to just relax on our own time. We eventually had to return to reality though.

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><p><strong>Authors comments:<strong> Ok, another fun chapter of developing my characters a little bit more. And before you all go off and say "Where's Sasuke and Sakura?"

well fret not because the next chapter is back to them. OK, and for real this time. The next chapter will for sure be the last chapter of this story before starting the next book.


	34. Time for Training Is Over

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

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><p>Winter was officially here, marking our fifteenth anniversary. The kids were now almost sixteen years old. It seemed like I barely saw them anymore. It seemed like they were always on the next mission, or they were out training. I knew what that was like though. I knew how easy it was to let things going on in your life take over. When I was young it seemed like I let my whole youth slip away. Always chasing after Sasuke, or training. It made me wonder what my life could have been at times. Regardless, it was fulfilling to see the times change, and my children being the ones changing it.<p>

Still I was enjoying the rare moment of the entire family being together. I had made breakfast for the occasion, something I hadn't gotten to do for anyone but myself in a while. Sasuke was making idle talk with Hitomi while Hayato shoved some sausage into his mouth. He was attempting to eat and get out early, though I had already told him he would have to stay for a while, since we had time to spend together. He had been taking off rather early in the morning, for the last few months now. Sasuke wanted to follow him and see where he was always off to so early in the morning, but I insisted that he give Hayato some privacy. If anything I figured that he might have tried to get Hitomi to follow him by now, but she wasn't really a good tracker, and Hayato was pretty good at losing people.

Sasuke was worried that he was too busy being off with some girl, which I knew was likely the case. It was only natural at that age. I lost my own virginity around that age. Though I never told Sasuke to who, not that it mattered. He said he didn't care who, so long as it wasn't Naruto. Which I reassured him it wasn't. It was weird to think that it was so long ago. It only felt like it was just a few days ago that we were that young. Time was moving so fast.

"Are you packed Hitomi?" Sasuke was taking her out again, this time for a few months for some special training. I knew how it was, Sasuke, Naruto, and I had all gone on similar sessions at one point or another. It was likely for some type of new jutsu that he wanted to train her in. This time I didn't see any harm in it. Hayato had actually declined to go along. I did appreciate Sasuke at least asking this time. Lately he had been doing a good job of trying to include Hayato in things. I knew that the damage was done though. I could sense the resentment coming from Hayato sometimes.

"Yes father."

"Can I go now mom?" I rolled my eyes, even though I knew I was going to give in and let him go.

"Fine, but don't be out too late tonight, it's supposed to get pretty cold."

"I'll take a jacket!" He shouted back as he basically bolted out the door. I sighed and turned to Sasuke, who just gave me a _"He's your kid look."_

A few minutes later they left, leaving me at home alone. I didn't really like to think that my life had been reduced to being a housewife, and the academy teacher, I wanted to be out in the field again. I missed being on the front lines, and having people truly depend on me. The thrill of a life a death situation. I found myself oddly missing that feeling. Maybe if I made a request I could go on a mission. I decided to go for it, and made my way to Naruto's office. A light snow had begun to fall. Which was a little early for this time of the year. It wasn't sticking, which was good since I never really cared for snow.

By the time I made it to the office it had already stopped snowing, by my jacket was now slightly damp. I made my way quietly into the office, Naruto was currently looking over some paperwork that Hinata was delving out to him in bundles. I was familiar with the duties of the Hokage, I had often watched Tsunade filling out one thing after the next. At least Naruto had the ability to be in more than one place at once. Though oddly enough I hadn't seen that much of him that lately, which was strange since I used to see him everywhere it seemed. He even stopped making appearances at the academy. It was like he just didn't have the energy that he used to. I figured that maybe that he had something going on in his life. I could only imagine as to what it could be.

"Naruto?" He came out of a paperwork induced stupor at the sound of my voice.

"Oh, Sakura, What brings you here?"

"There's been something that I wanted to ask you..."

Hitomi never ceased to surprise me sometimes. I knew that partially her progress to her current skill level was largely due to my constant training. She had plenty of natural talent on her own though. Still he had modified the chidori spear quite a ways from the way that I had initially imagined it. The chidori stream was an excellent defense, but I never imagined using the spear as a defense. Controllable blades that could stretch and slice anything headed her way. It was a rather useful defense, but I felt that it used far to much chakra. Though since she hadn't unlocked the mangekyou sharingan, and in essence the sussano'o. So for the time I discouraged its use.

Her training in the sharingan was going well, for a few years now I had been bringing her out for training specifically for that reason. I wanted to know if there was some other way to unlock the mangekyou sharingan. Although she knew of the usual way to attain it, permanently at least. She didn't seem to be interested in that particular path. Which was odd since I didn't the she liked her brother at all. Not that I would condone that kind of behavior. I wasn't even sure if she had a closest friend to cut down to begin with. I never really knew her to have many friends. Not even when she was a little child.

I knew though that there was at least one other way to achieve the mangekyou. Kakashi had managed it somehow, but to this day he refused to tell me. He wanted the eye back, something that I assured wouldn't happen. If I absolutely had to I could force it out of him. Though things hadn't reached that level of desperation yet. We were trying out new ways, I had looked into various jutsu's that could force the transformation, but I was worried of the potential side effects and dangers. So I didn't ever intend on using what little I found.

So we trained, always pushing her sharingan abilities to the next level. At the bare minimum it was good training. Her skill was improving, particularly in the genjutsu area. I had been training her how to recognize, use, and get out of. There was other training that we did as well. Speed attacks were far more useful when you had the eyes to keep up with how fast you were moving. Of course, that meant that one needed to be able to analyze what you were seeing fast enough to make a proper decision. It wasn't as easy as it sounded, it was something that really came with experience, but it could easily be the difference between life and death on the field. We worked more on her sword skills, which she liked in particular. I didn't like that she liked to wield two swords, but sometimes personal preference could lead to something unique.

I was beginning to start to even wonder how much farther that I could take her training. Without taking the avenues that I wanted to avoid, I didn't know really where to take her training to. I felt as though she had begun hit a ceiling. I didn't think that she was aware of it yet, but she wasn't stupid, and it would come to her soon enough, especially if I continued to train her like this. I wondered if she would be content to be where she was, or if she would be like me at that age. Young, and hungry for power. The power to accomplish whatever you set your mind to. It made me wonder what she even wanted in life. Though we spent a lot of time together, we didn't spend much time if any, talking about feelings. At times I felt that cold and distant attitude from her that I used to exude to everyone. I knew that her personality was set at this point. I just didn't want it to be to late for her to be more open minded than I was. It took me years of hard work to just get to the level of emotional acceptance that I was currently at. I didn't want her to have to do the same,

Father's training session today was unusually difficult today. Normally I would be exhausted like I was right now, but that was to be expected for a good training session. Today however, felt different. His intent during his attack was more intense than usual. A few times I was barely able to dodge some of his attacks in time. I still didn't leave unscathed though, I had a decent cut on my arm that I had soaked part of my lower arm in blood. Luckily it wasn't to deep, and it probably wouldn't scar, at least not noticeably. I perked up with father seemed to notice something. He had been focusing to catch his breath, since not a few minutes before he had been barraging me with a flurry a speed attacks meant to increase my evasion skills. He was looking around as if he wasn't sure. I didn't sense anything around us, so I wondered what it was. Then he subtly motioned for me to take cover. I took it at the nearest wide tree, pulling a kunai out for the potential need to deflect something. Father was still standing out in the middle of the clearing that we were training in. His eyes scanning the area for the slightest movement.

I did the same, my sharingan activated. I was relatively low on chakra, so if we were about to be attacked, I could only hope that their skill was relatively low. Even so, I doubted it, it would likely be a group to try and take my father on. Even I wasn't to be counted completely out just yet. Suddenly a blur burst from the woods. I was barely able to tell that it was a young woman, fairly close to mother and father in age. Father deflected her attack, knocking the kunai in he hand out. Which fell only a few feet away from my feet. I caught a small smile on fathers face, which didn't say much more than he was fighting someone worth his time. Suddenly I took a hit to my back, careening me into the clearing. There was so much power in the hit it kept me there, stunned on the ground.

"Hitomi!" Fathers hand was waving in front of my face, trying to bring me back.

"You let your guard down sis." Sis? Why was my attacker calling me sis? It couldn't be Hayato, it just couldn't. He didn't have the balls to hit me, he knew what I would do to him for it. I had beat him up more than once, mostly when he let Kushina drag him into her little schemes to mess with me. I didn't really care for practical jokes.

I managed to stand up and see clearly, the young woman who attacked father was just smiling at me. So was Hayato, only his was more of a self satisfied smirk. I felt embarrassed. It was all a set up, and I fell for it. I was kinda curious about the woman though. Father seemed to know who she was, I was trying to hear their conversation, but it was hard to over Hayato's gloats of his small victory over me.

"Shut up Hayato!" I tried to whisper to him. "Who is the woman?"

"Oh, that's Kaede. I've been training with her for a while now."

"I thought that you were training with mother."

"I've been training with her as well." I could only imagine as to why Hayato was always moonlight training with some strange woman. I didn't like the vibe that I was getting from her. She just didn't sit well with me.

"So what are you doing here?"

"We came to get you guys. The Hokage is pulling everyone back to the village, apparently something big is going down." I could only imagine as to what was so important that everyone from Konoha was being pulled back in.

"Do you know what it is?"

"It's all out war...against Konoha." Something wasn't adding up here. They didn't seem to act like someone who knew that war was impending. I wondered if it was another ruse at my sake. I turned to father. The look on his face said it all though. This was real...

I looked back at Hayato, who was still smiling, but now I noticed it. The smile was to mask his fear.

"Let's go, time to go help with the preparations." Father led us back to Konoha, I spent the time though imagining why all of a sudden everyone was after Konoha, it didn't take me long to realize why though. They were after us.

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><p><strong>Authors Notes: <strong>Well, this is the end of the first book. Yes, sad I know. Though, I hope to get started on the next book as soon as possible. On my next day off of work, whenever that is. I will also probably be going around various chapters and making some heavy updates, I really need to go and fix the first few chapters for sure.


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